The curious story of how fish and chips has its origins in Greater Manchester

A chip shop in Tommyfield Market, Oldham claims to be the first ever British chip shop.

According to the blue plaque outside the shop, this small chip shop in Oldham was home to the ‘first British fried chip’ in 1860. Now that’s a pretty bold statement to make about a component that became the nation’s favourite dish over 100 years later.

It’s pretty difficult to ascertain if it’s true or not, but there are plenty of facts that do indeed point us in that direction.

What is widely agreed, however, is where fried fish comes from – introduced to us Brits by Jewish refugees from Europe. 

While fleeing countries such as Portugal, Spain, Holland and Russia to avoid persecution, Jewish people came to Britain. They brought with them a whole host of culinary techniques and cuisines, including the humble fried fish. And almost all of them caught on pretty quickly.

Along with tradition, fish was to be fried in flour and oil on a Friday and consumed on the Sabbath, cold. 

The fish was sold on large trays hung around the necks of street sellers. And we know this to be true because even Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist (1839) references a ‘fried fish warehouse’. 

So, we’ve established that fried fish was a thing by the 1840s. But where do chips come into this?

What I think is important to do at this point, is to take a moment to appreciate the humble potato.

As soon as us Brits got our grubby little paws on the potato, we realised the wondrous things it could do and cooked it in what would have been a variety of creative ways back then – including boiling, mashing and putting them in a stew.

Since then, we’ve chipped them, crisped them, Hassleback-ed them, made tater hash, hash browns, wedges, Smiley Faces, potato cakes, the cheesy delights that are croquettes – the humble potato can even fashion as a kids painting stamp to name but a few uses.

That right there is the reason that my favourite food is always, and forever will be, the potato. And for all of you who say chicken – Nando’s chicken would be nothing without peri peri chips. 

But who was the first person to get creative and FRY the potato?

Well, this is where the blue plaque in Oldham comes in. Because it was in fact there that one dexterous Oldhamer put two and two together and got a handful of chips.

Or was it? It can never be easy, can it?!

I’m going to throw two more men into the deep fat fryer, Mr John Lees and Joseph Malin, who both put ‘First Fish & Chip Shop in the world’ to their name.

Mr Lees opened his wooden kiosk in Mossley, a rumour has it that he saw Tommyfield Market and rubbed his hands in glee about this fantastic new idea of putting FIRED chips with FRIED fish together in one neat newspaper-wrapped parcel.

Around about the same time, a Jewish immigrant called Joseph Malin opened his ‘very first ever’ fish and chip shop in London.

So, is Manchester the birthplace of fish and chips?

Well, I have no conclusive evidence to suggest otherwise. It is possible that Mr Lees pioneered the concept in the North, while Mr Malin did so in the south simultaneously and without either man knowing about the other. 

So let’s just grab it with both hands, claim it and add to our city’s long list of achievements and be done with it.