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Fish&Chip shop scratchings

Sounds nice Sue,,,My Aunt had two Fish chip shops in Shipston on Stour,my job when visting was to chip the potatoes. One potatoe at a time in the chipper,pull the handle and chips dropped into a Galvanished bucket. They kept there batter recipe secret,Think they put beer in it

Hi Cearnegiant - where were the chippies situated? There's only 1 left these days (and you wouldn't make a point of going to Shipston just for the chips!) on the A3400 just up from the Horseshoes pub towards Stratford (for which I WOULD make a point (pint?) of going to Shipston for!!!) on the other side of the road.
 
It's hard to find a decent chip shop these days, one where the chips are not all stuck together with soggy batter on the fish. It's mostly to do with the oil not being kept hot enough apparently as it saves money to turn the burners down.
went to see 'Corrie' at the Malvern theatre today & stopped on the way back at Astwood Bank chippie, the chips weren't too bad at all but the fish batter was a soggy mess
 
hi izzy
yes i can tell you where to find a brilliant chippie with no messy stuck together chips today
and that is dads chippie chip and fish shop with a eat in as well if you wanted to do so ;
and you will find it at dads lane kings heath and at dog pool lane stirchley ;
we travel to brum special for them and every time we are in brum we call in and get our fish and chips and we take them away in a aluminuim
foil bag ;we travel from worcestershire purposely for them and take them back with us and the scallops are thick and extra crunchie
and i mean crunchie they are a great couple whom run the shop
in fact they have taken over where beddows left off they have to be number 1 chippie in brum
i recommend them to every one we do not buy our chips from any where else we do not even buy them in worcestershire or ant where else in brum they are always packed out six days a week ; even the eat in eatery section
they are never sodden with grease or fat they are golden indeed
have a nice day best wishes astonian
 
HI Speedy. The one chippy in Market Place and the other one was on Road out of Shipston, Was also Fruit and Veg shop.They only fried there couple days a week.Think on the London road .
 
great stories...i remember as a kid i used to go into a fish and chip shop on coventry road small heath and ask for scratchings...blimey they always gave a lot...couldn't eat them all...the shop was close to saint andrews as i remember with a pub on the corner of cattel road...be great to see some pictures of these shops.
 
Cant beat Beddows we passed it the other day it was closed it only opens certain days I think.
 
I have really enjoyed this topic, being a fish and chip enthusiast. I am married to a Yorkshire wench; she calls our scratching, scraps.

All this talk of food, and how good old fish and chips were, made me feel quite hungry, so I made some the other day. Nice piece of fresh cod, batter made with beer, maris piper potatoes and home made tartar sauce. I drizzled a littlie batter into the oil, to make some scratchings too. Result, bliss.

It always amazes me that there are so many fish and chipshops that cannot make good fish and chips, when you consider how easy it is todo.
 
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no morton ;
its not just of the case of popping in to your fryer the fish and chips pototoes thats where every one whom thinks its straight forewarded
as that because there is an art to it and a nack it takes a good time to learn the nack in it thats why when you go to some chippie they are under cooked and very ; very greasy ; and also over cooked and burnt
and on the subject of the scratching many many places will not give you those scratching because from way back the health and safteity and
hygiene act came came into force i think it was in the sixtyies it became a health issues with these people thats why they are relucted to give them to you most fryers take then out before customers come in and asked them for them and its because you never know when these guys walk into your shop and if seen by one of them they face prosecution and get fined but alot of fryers know there customers and will get them
i suggest you take a wak down dog pool lane stirchley to dad resturant and fish and chip shop he his bursting all day long thats what they are like
they took over where beddows left off and incidently the name beddows name is above the shop ut they are the new owners and not
the orinional owner beddows
dads chippie is the best in brum and you can go in and sit in as well always serving faster and faster and turning out there golden chips daily
there customers come early for the fear of linning up and waiting to be served they are the only chippie we used we do not buy our chips local in worcestershire we wait until i am in brum and then we get them in a foil bag and drive back to worcester and they are still hot and delicious ;
have a great day mort lok foreward to taking that walknow the driotwich sectionis finaly openend alan ;; astonian
 
lok foreward to taking that walknow the driotwich sectionis finaly openend alan ;; astonian


Hi Alan



Send me an instant message and ill set something up with you
 
Some chippies still do the scratchings, (or "bits" as I call 'em!) - even the chippy at the Black Country Museum at Dudley. Ask for "Fish, chips & bits".
The secret of good fish 'n chips is to cook them in beef dripping, not oil.
Alan, have you tried the chippy "Golden Gourmet" on the corner of Barbourne Rd and Hebb St, Worcester? Almost opposite the Royal Grammar School. Not bad for a modern chippy I thought.
Any chippy who has had a fire never cooks properly afterwards - too scared to have the oil hot enough. An Aunt of mine & her daughter had the Windsor Fish Shop on Bearwood Road once, before the war, and they told me that- from their own experience, I think.
 
HI LLOYED
How are you keeping fine i hope;? .
i must admit lloyed i pass that shop many times and i have never used it so i cannot comment on that one but yes if he use,s
the old beef dripping its a bonus plus have the old nack of correctly timeing and letting his spuds soak long enough in
the bath which they all use in there outer housing before fetching them out in there buckets as well to take out most of the starch in the spuds
and the other thing thats goes along way with the customers is not to let any eyes left in the spud before frying its well presented
then they will be nice dry and crisped there is a guy around the corner from that shop called the silver cod i think it was called he his still there
the guy is of a foreign origin ; cannot recall his name at the moment but he his an accountant and as his son now running the shop he as been there four about four years ago and thats when i first met him about four years ago he was adervising for a back room peeler part time and a server
on the front counter so i applied for the job; and got it and worked in there for him and when is son became of age i left he wanted me to stay on but i declined as he wanted me to decorate the shop for him at a cheap price but i said no and that was it ;
he knew his stuff he spot checked all is pototoes and not would have had a eye in it and they was bang on chips as they should be
alot of the chippies around worcestershire and the black country was supplied with already chipped cleaned chipps and bagged up frozen
by a guy called phil taylor of mucknell farm in pershore the fam goes back to the seventeen hundreds and 1800s it was his fathers farm
which stretch across pershore and he employed about 12 guys including myself as the lorry delivers to peel tons of spuds throughthe wash machine wich was huge and chipped then by the thousand and i had to deliver most of them around the black country and across worcester ;
to all these fish and chip shops so i got to know the many of these fryers and do you know you could count them on one hand whom ever used the beef dripping it was always oil drums which was useless no comprisment to the beef dripping as you say ;
the jelfs chippie on the aston cross and spring hil used to used the beef dripping at there out lets ;
so i know a fair bit about the trade of chippers and you are quite correct in what you have said ;
well lloyed have a good day best wishes astonian
 
Hi Astonian, do you remember the name of the fish and chip shop on the bristol road same side as the oak cinema, but about 5/6 shops down towards northfield direction, I think they were cypriots and I think the main man was tony.
regards paul
 
HI PAUL
Yes i remember tony very well and his family tony left and moved to upper thomas street aston for a period andlater moved to waterloo rd smethwick and boght a coffee shop along with a ice cream van he later turn the coffee shop in waterloo rd into a greek cypriot organisation
offices and commutity walfare centre ; at the moment i just cannot think of the chippie name shop but i remember tony very well from when he done some shifts later on at the old blue bird toffee factory
also i know big john and the family and steve at the frying pan on the corner of barford rd and dudley rd they started off at northbrook street down by the hospital of dudley rd where i think from memory was the old 96 bus terminus from city centre through hockley and hingeston st and up to northbrook street terminus way back in time when the clearance came they bought the shop on pershore rd by the bbc andlater sold it to another guy called shoggie whom bought alibabas on coventry rd by the blues ground and still kept the pershore rd one as well he later moved back to the suze
cannal side of the world the chinese now own the one on the pershore by the bbc big john does not work any moreits down to steve and the cousins whom are running the frying pan on dudley rd as i said they startedthere on the cornerof north brook st and years later moved back to my old
haurting grounds dudley rd incidently some asked about a butcher shop the other day on the forum well that was across the rd by the lea taveren years ago right next to it and green the deco shop was next door to it as well i was up there the other week and i was appalled to see how the council have let it slip into a bad area of estate
but yes paul i did know tony for many , many years he was a great guy he was such a great friend to our family as well i have had often thought what ever happened to him ; paul have a nice day best wishes alan astonian
 
Hi all
this brings back many happy memories.i was lucky to live next door to claytons fish shop in formans rd sparkhill during the war.mom used to help out
chipping the spuds on the hand chipper.but the to things that stick in my mind are,the fact that our front room never needed to have any heat on as the cooking
range backed on to our front room wall.also my dad worked nights at the rover during the war.once a week his treat was fish and chips before
setting of to work.mom would send me to get them,buti was told to wait untill the shop was empty as mrs clayton had a piece of hake under the counter
for him.i do believe that it was either in short supply or rationed.happy days
 
I bow to your supierior knowledge, thanks for that astonian the reason I asked was that as a lad of 14yr's I worked there for six months on a saturdays and sundays, tony had 2 bueatiful girls I cannot remember their names now, and a huge white albino alsation dog, that dog loved me so much it followed me all the way back to weoley castle one day, and my dad made me take all the way back, the bus wouldn't let me on so I had to walk. couldn't do it now great memories. many thanks alan .regards paul.
 
hi caggyken
i liked your story of yesterdays ; naughty but nice ; one lways loked after good neibours an friends in thou,s days
what say today is ; if you are lucky enough to have a good frend and a neibour today ;
they re worth there wait in gold ; i say today human race ;
and the story of the best peice of hake story reminds me of the day when aunti ellen used to run the chip shop on spring hill
faceing the libary ; and along side bulpitts on camden st i was there
a man whom worked at bulpitts as a foreman in his lunch break came in and asked for the hake ;
he took it back to work with him and at five oclock clocking out time he came back into the shop on his way home with the fish eaton and just left the skeleton of the hake and said that fish was horrible and i would like a refund back please
well she seen red ; as the old saying goes and chased him out of the shop and do not come back because you will not be served ; we laughed about
it later that evening but if you do not know that when you work in a chippie when you go home your coat or clothes what ever are hanging about smell of fish and chips and ruin your clothes thanks caggy for the smile ; best wishes astonian
 
'Scratchings' are still sold in several chip shops round the Scott Arms areas, though they are generally referred to as 'batters', and are scattered over a serving of chips rather than sold separately.

Fish and Chips however, are really made a meal by the addition of a scallop...
 
When we lived in Tilton Road,Small Heath,Rileys chippy in Garrison Lane was our local.Great fish n chips and free "scratchings".I was at school with Philip,the son of the owners.They emigrated to Austrailia eventually.
 
Best chippies and scratchings for me and i,m sure others remember it.
was i think oliver st on the corner grt lister st,they were special.
a lot of places now don,t give you salt and viniger unless you ask..
Happy days in birmingham 7.. dereklcg
 
hi wobag ;
if you get them from your local chippie [ scratching ] they are breaking the law beleive it or not ;
yes everybody loves the scratchinng even myself ; but under the health and safety rules from many years ago it was banned under the health and safety regulations
way ; way back ; as i recall they was forbidden to give you them even if you was to pay for them ;
if there was a officier of the health and safety team in the que behjind you ; he would pull the owner for it ;
there aint many chippies whom will risk the risk for prosecution ; for scratching ; to the public
my grand father used to run a couple of chipies years ago and they bought there fish in wooden boxes for one shilling and six pence a stone
i knew mr beddows used to give you some if requested he swapped his scratching for a spoon of chopped onions on your chips free if you wanted
but sadly they havee long gone , but dads lane chippie dog pool lane stirchley as taken over where beddows left off
just like old beddows you can eat in but like beddows you have to line up out sidefrom noon to dust
have a nice day best wishes astonian ;;
 
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