Fish and chips - the Great British staple, it seems simple enough. But one guy has gone and confused the whole nation by telling us we've been eating it wrong all this time.
After Grace Dent put out a review of a famous northern chippy in her Guardian restaurant column, she received a reply that made everyone question their lifelong habits - one guy said you're not supposed to eat the batter on fish.
I know what you're thinking: 'But that's the best bit!' However, this person's reasoning did make sense. The reader said: "The batter is there to protect the fish during frying, you peel it off, throw it away, then eat the fish!
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"If you bake a fish (or indeed a vegetable) in a salt crust, do you eat that too?"
Taking a screenshot, Grace took to Twitter to share her confusion and presumably to make sense of life again.
Replies to the tweet vary with the main emotion being out and out despair.
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One person commented: "That's just... it's just... I don't actually know what that is. This country is finished. We can't even eat fish and chips properly anymore."
Another said: "I guess you have to take the skin of sausages and throw away the skin around a jacket potato - both sacrilegious!"
A third, showing willpower we can only dream of, replied: "I don't eat the batter, because I know the goodness is in the fish. Only eat a few chips too! But then I'd prefer grilled or baked fish. Only eat deep fried on sufferance."
Someone else, clearly shocked and confused, tweeted: "Oh my god. I'm glad I was sitting down," to which Grace added: "But he's sure. He is so so sure. Listen to him. ARE WE THE WRONG ONES?"
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Well, further discussion on the matter suggests this person's claims are somewhat unsubstantiated - thankfully.
Andrew Crook, President of the National Federation of Fish Friers (what a job title), confirmed once and for all that the batter should be left on for the perfect fish and chips.
Speaking to Fabulous Digital, he said: "Modern batters are delicious and crisp with a great crunch when you eat them with lovely white steamed fish inside, it's the combination of taste of the batter and fish bursting through that makes the dish so special.
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"Batter came from a practice of baking fish in a salty dough to steam the fish inside historically, but by the time fish and paired with chips in 1860 it had become an edible batter."
Stand down, chippy fans. False alarm.
Featured Image Credit: PA
