Dabs
 

Just finished a lesson where I was asked what 'a dab hand' meant . This wasn't difficult to explain, but then I began thinking about the word 'dabs' and remembered that we used to buy them at the Chippie. For the life in me I can't remember what they were exactly. Looking in an old dictionary, I found "flat-fish of genus Limanda.." Is this what they were, fish??
Help all you experts !!

Re: Dabs
 

A thick slice of potato dipped in batter and fried.

Re: Dabs
 

That's what came to my mind, Margaret - but aren't they also called scallops?

Re: Dabs
 

i thought scallops were sclices of spud fried no batter

Re: Dabs
 

me too

Re: Dabs
 

The term scallops and dabs seems interchangeable.
Incidentally, years ago we used to go to the chippy for something that was called a fishcake......it wasn't like the fish cakes that you get now...it was two slices of potato with a thin sliver of fish between them, battered and fried...you could also get something similar with a slice of corned beef in the middle...that was a John Bull.

Re: Dabs
 

mmmm that fishcake sounds much better than the ones they do now

Re: Dabs
 

Most of the recipes on the internet have them done in batter

Potato Scallops in Beer Batter

Or just to confuse the issue even further there's always scalloped potatoes...

Jamie Oliver | Member Recipes | Risotto | Creamy Scalloped Potatoes

Re: Dabs
 

Dabs were awesome from Barnes square chippy. About 4p each on my way home from all saints late 70's. Sometimes a bag o scraps too.

Re: Dabs
 

corned beef fritter

Re: Dabs
 

Thats what the chippys called em anyway.:)

Re: Dabs
 

Scallops in our chippy, when I were a young un was onion rings sandwiched between two potato slices, dipped in batter & fried.

Re: Dabs
 

Yes, I remember those too....but the sliced potato had to be thin or the onion would be only partly cooked.

Re: Dabs
 

Aww I got good memories brought back now-my late Grandmother used to take me after school to a 'chippy' on her lane that sold those.

Re: Dabs
 

That's how I remember it. And they were a penny:eek:

Re: Dabs
 

That was a good chippy ... 4p sounds pretty steep;)

Re: Dabs
 

Probably £4 now Eric.

Re: Dabs
 

And probably halal .... :rolleyes::D

Re: Dabs
 

halal spuds! no way

Re: Dabs
 

Yes way ... everything is going halal ... soon there will be halal beer, halal football and halal sex:eek:

But, back to dabs and chips and things ... does anyone else remember chips going up from a tanner to 8 pence when the new spuds came in?

Re: Dabs
 

i cant even remember a tanner lol decimalisation was brought in year i was born (i fink)

Re: Dabs
 

halal spud....where the spud is killed in a certain religious manner ;)

Re: Dabs
 

A few Hail Marys when making them there chops please

Re: Dabs
 

Well back in the distant past, when men were men and women didn't use the term diper for a terry nappy, the traditional way of peeling a spud was to give the woman that was chained to the kitchen sink, (for her own protection from the outside world), a vegetable knife and tell her to get on with it.
It was one of the few times they were allowed such sharp instruments because they were prone to mood swings and could suffer either self harm or more likely harm to the male sharing their environment.

Re: Dabs
 

Careful what you say hon ... PETS (people for the ethical treatment of spuds) maybe monitoring this site.:eek:

#4-Mr. Potato Head: Death by Hammer (from Toys in Trouble) - YouTube

And it might have something to do with what kind of manure the spud grower uses.:rolleyes:

Re: Dabs
 

No no no!!! Has to be a proper Lancashire potato peeler - the sort with string round the handle.

Re: Dabs
 

Sue...you beat me to it. I have one of those and my other half has his own......I cannot use his...he cannot use mine.....over the years mine has conformed to my hand...his is new...he gets one every few weeks because he has an amazing tendency to throwh his peeler away with the peelings...and learns nothing from repeating this experiences.
I would be gutted if he threw mine away....I don't think I have enough life left to make a new spud peeler conform to my hand.:)

Re: Dabs
 

Well I have been known to throw mine away Margaret - but always managed to retrieve it from the compost bucket!

Re: Dabs
 

Had to think about this for a while ... and then it clicked ... I do remember those things. We had one. Anyone else remember pronouncing "peelings" as "pillings"; or is it just me:confused: (Or "I";))

Re: Dabs
 

So you missed out on all those complicated calculations we used to have to make in arithmetic class. Miss Pilkington at All Saints used to start off the day with mental arithmetic ... imagine, asking students to do some thinking, esp. at the beginning of the day. And she often threw some money sums into the mix, just to make sure we were awake;):D

Re: Dabs
 

Well not bad for a semi-stoned old fart - think long enough and it appears!

Err... no.

Re: Dabs
 

They are the only ones I can use

Re: Dabs
 

Help, apart from Margaret's suggestion, I still don't remember what a dab is.
I've just read all the posts, am killing myself laughing as my husband asked me to translate your comments into Italian, I told him it's impossible and that it would be easier to translate some of Monty Pythons antics!!!
WHAT'S A DAB? WHAT's A DAB WHAT'S A DAB?????

Re: Dabs
 

It's even made it on to the menu of a posh restaurant = look towards the bottom of the main courses...

Earle By Simon Rimmer | À La Carte & Earle Classics Menu

Re: Dabs
 

I think we can all agree with Margaret R's thick slice of potato (or "potatoe" if you are and American Veep;)) dipped in batter and fried ... that's what I remember too. Not surprised all this doesn't translate into Italian; doesn't translate too well into Quebecois French either:D Of course, there could be a Quebec version topped off with cheese curds and gravy ... Poutine a la dabois ... mmmm. Perhaps you could come up with an Italian version.:)

Re: Dabs
 

a dab,or dabs also slang for ones fingerprints or does no-one remember that, to put ones dabs all over the place.

Re: Dabs
 

and the little "flounders" we used to catch from Blackpool pier.

Re: Dabs
 

Yes I have one of those, very handy for stirring my instant mash.
I bought the one I have just after I got wed' the wife couldn't use it because she was left handed, luckily I went to a stall at B'burn indoor market and got her a left handed peeler otherwise spud peeling might have turned into a permanent job for me.

Re: Dabs
 

Take a look at this, I think you lot knew all the time!!
Kush Magazine

Re: Dabs
 

Well it seems dans have gone up a lot in price then eh?

Re: Dabs
 

Never heard of the term ... and I have been a devotee of tetrahydrocannabol for years ... or is that decades:confused: ... funny what's happened to my memory;) Round this neck of the woods, a paper with some oil on it is called an "oiler" ... but "dab" I haven't heard of. If it weren't for the fact that I'll be handling firearms later this am, I would do the "wake and bake" thing and give it some more thought. Maybe later.:D

But I do remember Brylcreem ... best way to get a good DA ... but I've yet to smoke it.:D

Re: Dabs
 

You can still get dabs now, you usually get them on a teacake with salt and vinegar on, if you went to a chinese chippy they'd look at you crazy, I think they are about £1, you get salt and vinegar on them. I can't eat all those carbs now, send me nuts and goes straight to the hips!