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Hands up all those who thought that this post is going to have some sort of religious connotation.

Well it ain’t unless your god is fish, chips or vinegar.

Vinegar! Why does vinegar have to be liquid?

You sit down with a plate full of chips, a nicely battered and cooked piece of Cod or Haddock and a good spoonful of mushy peas and smack your lips in anticipation of eating a fulfilling meal. A couple of slices of fresh bread with real butter are to hand as is a mug of tea. You reach for the salt seller and sprinkle on some salt (not too much – remember your heart) and then splash on some vinegar.

Then by the time that you stab a chip with your fork the vinegar has dribbled away to the bottom of your plate. With a bit of luck the batter will absorb some vinegar but to have some vinegar on your chip you have to search around the bottom of your plate to dip it in and rush it your mouth before it has a chance of escaping again. Even then it probably dribbles down your chin or onto your shirt.

It’s even worse if you are outdoors and your meal is wrapped in paper. The paper absorbs all the vinegar and all you get is the aroma.

Why can’t vinegar be more viscous - like tomato sauce for instance?

Is it not beyond the wit of man or woman to produce a thick vinegar?

As a tiny aside, has anyone else noticed that the vinegar used in a chip shop is never as strong as the vinegar that you have at home? Or is it all my imagination?

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Hey Jambutty - use your imagination and cast your mind back to when you sailed the seven seas - and the Med in particular. Remember the standard peasant dish? Simply bread, with a little plate on the side which had a few dollops of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Nowt could be simpler, more tastier or more filling.

The simple solution then is not to bung the Sarson's on yer chips to let 'em get soggy....wait till you get home..then just have a little saucer of malt vinegar on the side..and dip yer firm chips into that!

Bon appetit!

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Thats coz its been watered down.....oooh now you have made me fancy fish and chips,,,,,:) my mouth is watering!

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You need a good bottle of balsamic vinegar from Modena.

Never really thought of it being a problem for me though. A lot of the vinegar evaporates anyway, as soon as it comes into contact with the hot chips.

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Great idea Tealeaf.

Now what’s your solution for eating chips and fish out of a paper bag? Eat the bag?

This balsamic vinegar – is it thick?

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Very much so, and black like treacle. About five quid for a decent bottle. But very tasty.

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All the supermarkets stock the stuff these days...I don't know which is the nearest one in Darwen.

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As well as splashing it on your chips Balsamic vinegar is also nice on strawberries.

Don't go for the cheapest. It's thicker so will last longer and the better stuff tastes much nicer.

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I prefer my balsamic vinegar splashed over lettuce with parmasan cheese.

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I really wish I hadn't looked at this thread. Ossy fish and chips...........I'll be awake all night.

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We Had Home Made Fish And Chips For Tea,,,delicious......

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I thought it was going to be about not making junk posts lol.

I'm not sure if my god is the guy that owns the chipy or ronald mc Donald.

Anyway, your putting it wrong for a start, its vinegar first, then salt. The vinegar wets the chips, then the salt sticks to them. The salt then helps the vinegar to soak in and not drip off. You'll never see a decent chippy put salt on first.
Our chippy was absolutely packed to the door tonight, and three staff on. There must have been some thing in the uk air tonight, everyone wanted chippy meals

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I thought it was going to be about not making junk posts lol.

I'm not sure if my god is the guy that owns the chipy or ronald mc Donald.

Anyway, your putting it wrong for a start, its vinegar first, then salt. The vinegar wets the chips, then the salt sticks to them. The salt then helps the vinegar to soak in and not drip off. You'll never see a decent chippy put salt on first.
Our chippy was absolutely packed to the door tonight, and three staff on. There must have been some thing in the uk air tonight, everyone wanted chippy meals

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One reason the vinegar tastes different is that chip shops use non brewed condiment vinegar whilst asda et al only sell malt vinegar(unless you are really lucky)

My mum won't buy malt so I have to keep my eyes open for when I see a bottle of NBC.

Anyway, as for thick vinegar, nope leave it as it is, teh spirit part is what gets up your nose and enhances the whole experience.

Balsamic is lovely, I particularly like it with sweet tomatoes that have been marinated in it for ages. Stawberries are lovely with a good coating of freshly ground black pepper or just dipped in a good quality brandy.

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I thought that I was weird in liking toast with jam and some good Cheddar cheese, but balsamic vinegar on strawberries?

It doesn’t hit my spot.

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Aaaah but black pepper on fresh strawberries is delicious, the pepper really brings out the flavour of the strawberries. If you have never tried strawberries this way, then do.............they're brilliant.:D

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I know someone who puts marmalade on his kippers - REALLY weird.

Put the vinegar on first, as Madhatter says, then it doesn't wash the salt off and the salt sticks and holds the vinegar.

It's definitely off down the chippy tonight, then. Our local one in London even does mushy peas - most London chippies look at you as if you were bonkers if you ask for mushy peas. Perhaps civilisation is spreading south.

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Do you have chips with gravy on them in accy or down london, because its popular here and at liverpool, but some people think it's wierd.

Also You know when you ask for chips in a tray with mushy peas, do they put a sheet of plastic over the tray so it's between the tray and the chips? they do that up liverpool but not here in the midlands.

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Yes Madhatter, chips and gravy is popular here too.. In fact chips, mushy peas and gravy all in one tray is my favourite. A sheet of greaseproof paper goes over the chips here before wrapping..:D My family owned a chip shop for several years and I spent my teenage years working in it. It is an absolute must to put the vinegar on first, then the salt. It is the only way that both condiments will stay on the chips.

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In Soup on Warner St they do a really fabulous cheese and red onion jam sandwich - worth coming into Accy just for that.

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Many thanks to everyone who suggested Balsamic Vinegar. I found some at Asda for just under three quid. I got me some Maris Piper spuds and after ‘the match’ this afternoon I will be making me a plate of chips liberally sprinkled with salt (sod the heart) and this new vinegar. A mug of tea and a couple of slices of a fresh Lancashire white loaf with best butter and a wedge of Cracker Barrel will complete my feast.

Cheese on a chip butty muffin with a sludge of salad cream has always been a favourite of mine, as has cheese on a chicken butt, also with a dollop of salad cream - Heinz of course.

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kept telling my ex vinegar then salt but she's too stuborn to believe me.
our chips go straight in the tray here, in liverpool they use a clear piece of cellophane , like a flower sleeve plastic, there you use greesproof paper, so why nothing here? or why do you need greeseproof paper?

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The greaseproof paper covers the top of the tray here, once the chips are in it. If your chips are being wrapped instead of in a tray there will also be greaseproof paper in the wrapping. This stops the grease and vinegar from the chips leaking into the surrounding paper after wrapping. That way your chips will stay wrapped and intact until you get home and open them. I don't know why they put cellophane on the bottom of the trays, my only suggestion is that they may be using cheap trays which absorb the fat and vinegar and would deteriorate mid-meal. We don't line the trays with anything here, our greaseproof paper goes on the top.:D

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all these unusual combinations reminds me of when I had a thing for syrup and tomato ketchup sandwiches, sounds disgusting but it was yummy. Not tried it for years but it def had a sweet and sour thing going for it!!! :p

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why on earth do they put a piece of greeseproof paper on top of the chips? You only have to take it off again to get to the chips.

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We always used to use open topped trays here Madhatter, the greaseproof stopped the contents leaking into the wrapping paper, so therefore the wrapping paper wouldn't stick to the chips..

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This vinegar first or last debate is as much use as the milk first or last in a cup of tea.

Surely it’s all a matter of choice?

I never have a problem with the salt not sticking to chip shop chips. They are so soggy and loaded with oil that anything except vinegar sticks to them, including greaseproof paper.

The only way to get proper salt and vinegar crisps is to get plain ones and add your own salt and real vinegar. The same goes for those tomato ketchup crisps.

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Now then Jambutty - chip shop paper. Glad you mentioned that because it's one of my grouches that the chips stick to the bit of greaseproof but any which fall onto the other and don't contact the greaseproof don't stick. (It usually ends up pulling all the batter off the fish too.) So I think they should have a large sheet of the greaseproof and a small one of the other (non-stick) and wrap the chips first in the one they don't stick to and THEN in the greaseproof.

I never remember them sticking in the olden days when they were wrapped in newspaper with a bit of greaseproof inside that.:rolleyes: