A former fish and chip shop worker who plied his trade in the industry for five years has revealed the one item he would never order.
Jordan Luxford, who is now the owner of A-Star Waste Management in Sussex, worked at several fish and chip shops on the south coast and even served as a cook specialising in the British dish at the Wimbledon tennis championships in 2019.
While fish and chips is considered to be the national dish of choice for millions of Brits across the UK, Mr Luxford explained that items are often all deep-fried in the same batch of vegetable oil – from fish, chips and sausages to Mars bars.
He said: ‘Most people wouldn’t know that after we cook battered products in our oil we would follow it with a batch of chips.
A former fish and chip shop worker who plied his trade in the industry for five years has revealed the one item he would never order from a chippy (File image)
‘The chips help to clean the oil of the smaller batter particles that do not get removed by sieving the oil,’ in an interview with The Express.
As many items are cooked in the same batch of oil, Jordan said he would avoid ordering a beef burger from your local chip shop.
The former chip shop worker remarked: ‘I would never order a fried beef burger! If you want a decent burger get it from a shop with a hot plate to cook it on.
‘If you want a freshly cooked item go for something that isn’t in the glass top under the lights but we would cook anything fresh if a customer asked anyway.
‘Fried chocolate bars have always been popular too. We would usually cook them for free alongside an order and as we wouldn’t have the chocolate bars in stock, the customer would be asked to bring them with them and we would cook them at the same time as the rest of their order.’
Jordan also noted another aspect of the fish and chip trade that might surprise a lot of people – the amount of preparation required for a busy day of service.
He added: ‘The amount of preparation time needed to get everything ready before opening was a huge surprise!
‘It takes hours to cut a Friday night’s fish and even more hours to peel, inspect and cut 20 bags of potatoes. Prep for a Friday night, opening at 5.30pm would start at 10am.’
It comes after new figures revealed that a typical portion of fish and chips has risen to nearly £10 after the cost of the classic British dish soared by 50%.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the dramatic cost increase in some of the nation’s most popular takeaways
Data has shown the alarming price rise of one of the nation’s favourite takeaway choices.
Whether you enjoy wrapped in newspaper overlooking the sea on a sunny summer’s evening or at home on a cold winter night, the average price for a chippy tea has skyrocketed to over £10, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The ONS said that the estimated average price for a takeaway portion of fish and chips was £9.88 in July this year – a hike of 52% compared with £6.48 in July 2019.
It means the cost of a fish supper has risen higher in percentage terms than other go-to options for Brits, including a takeaway pizza, along with an Indian or Chinese main course.
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