According to the National Federation of Fish Friers, there are some 10,500 fish and chip shops across the country of which 22 percent of the nation visit every single week.
Whether it’s on a traditional “fish Friday” or a sunny weekday evening, Christian Motta, owner of the Grosvenor Fish Bar in Norwich, is one of many people serving up the delicious fried goods to Britons every day.
The restaurant, which has thousands of five-star reviews on Google has been branded as “an icon of Norwich”, and a part of Christian’s family for more than 60 years.
As someone who knows a thing or two about fish and chips, the Grosvenor Fish Bar owner spoke exclusively to Express.co.uk to reveal the most surprising tricks of the trade.
He said: “Our morning starts at 7am, prepping the potatoes – peeling 300 kilos and storing in a large tank until they need to be chipped.
“On busy days we will have to do another 300 kilos after lunch. The fish needs to be cut, sauces made and stock taking and ordering are all done before we open at 11.30am.”
Of course, this is a treacherous task without the help of some machinery, which in this case comes in the form of a chipper.
Christian explained that the potatoes go through an electric chipper as needed – freshly cut, then freshly fried. That is, when everything goes to plan.
He elaborated: “On one occasion we had to cut by hand – our main chipper died, we got out our spare chipper and worked for a minute before the belt broke. Until our backup chipper got its new belt put on, we were hand cutting chips – a very slow process – akin to filling a bucket with sand, one grain at a time.”
The Grosvenor Fish Bar has a range of classic and creative dishes for customers to enjoy, ranging from cod goujons and chips to their “Bass with Sass” – a fried sea bass fillet served on a bed of lettuce and mango salsa, wrapped in a warm flour wrap.
But this hasn’t stopped customers coming in with bizarre requests, as many people do. Christian said: “When we first opened, a couple asked us to deep fry the top tier of their frozen wedding cake for their first anniversary.
“We told them to slice the frozen cake and bring it in towards the end of the day, so it would be the last item cooked and then we could change the oil after. They decided not to fry it in the end – a wise decision!”
He continued: “We also serve a burger – The Ground Beast Extreme – an eight-ounce burger with cheese and battered bacon, lettuce, tomato and po’ boy sauce. As if that was not enough going on a burger, a customer added a pineapple fritter and curry sauce poured over it. It was not the last time she ordered it.”
As with all “chippies”, the spuds are a must-have with every meal and something many businesses pride themselves on making irresistible to customers. At the Grosvenor, Christian explained that they have “a few rules” to keep food “tasting fresh and authentic”.
He said: “First is the oil, it must be fresh, many shops have filtration systems that keep their oil longer than they should – the older the oil, the less efficient it becomes at sealing and cooking your food and you end up with a greasy product. The oil temperature needs to be 180C, to seal the batter and not let the oil get to the fish, ideally, the batter is fried as the fish gets steamed encased in the crisp batter.
“Keep it simple with chips as well, some shops use a preservative to soak the fresh chips in until they are needed to be fried, this keeps the chips artificially ‘fresh’ but leaves a slightly bitter aftertaste, and can be harmful if allergic to sulphites. Cooking chips twice will guarantee a nice crisp chip.
“First, we par fry the chips at a lower temperature, 155C until soft, then we fry them in a hot pan at 180C until crisp. Needless to say, our oil is fresh and our potatoes go directly from the chipper to the fryer – no soaking in chemicals.”
While there’s no doubt Christian is a loyal customer at his own family business, he did reveal the one thing he’d never be caught ordering elsewhere.
The fish bar owner explained that nothing beats their “cheeky cod” (cod cheeks) or squid, which are both “fresh and not pre breaded”. He said: “At the Grosvenor, we lightly batter them and serve with a homemade minted lemon mayo for the cheeks and a homemade garlic mayo for the squid.”
When it comes to sauces and sides, Christian claims that his customers are big fans of both curry sauce and mushy peas, but his personal order would always be gravy rather than a spiced curry sauce.
He added: “But my go-to is always mushy peas because of the butter and pepper.”
