Fish-and-chip shop

A fish-and-chip shop, sometimes referred to as a chippy or chipper, is a business which specialises in selling fish and chips. Usually, fish-and-chip shops provide takeaway service, although some have seating facilities. Fish-and-chip shops may also sell other foods, including variations on their core offering such as battered sausage, pizza and burgers, to regional cuisine such as Indian food.

History

There are two prevailing theories on who opened the first dedicated fish-and-chip shop; both date to the 1860s. Conventionally it is believed to have originated with an Eastern European Jewish family named Malin, who lived in Bow, London. The family sold fried potatoes from their house to supplement income from their rug-weaving business. Their son, 13-year-old Joseph Malin, came up with the idea of buying fish from a local fried-fish shop and hawking the two together from a tray hung around his neck as he walked the streets of London. They opened a shop called "Malin's in Bow". Malin's continued as a family business for over 100 years, and in 1968 it was recognized by the National Federation of Fish Friers as the world's oldest fish-and-chips business. It closed in the early 1970s after selling the exclusive rights to the recipe to an American fast-food chain, Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips, who marketed it in the U.S. as "the original" British recipe, reaching a peak in the 1970s with over 800 shops.