Fish & chips have been enjoyed by people around the world since the 16th Century, but despite being a Jewish invention, we all know that the best fish & chips come from Yorkshire. And, not only that, Yorkshire is or was home to the longest-running fish and chip shop in the world.
Yes, that’s right found in Yeadon, Leeds, according to the National Federation of Fish Friers, this quaint little chippy, which closed in 2016 is the oldest fish & chip shop in the world but had continually served fish & chips from 1865 until it closed.
Best served with lashings of salt and vinegar, and chip spice if you’re from East Yorkshire, a chippy tea is the ultimate dish. We love visiting one of Yorkshire’s seaside towns to enjoy fish & chips by the sea, whether it’s up in Filey or down the coast towards Bridlington, you can’t beat it.
With one of Yorkshire’s chippies known as the longest-running in the world, there is no wonder we are so good at making the UK’s favourite dish.
But where did fish & chips originate from?
It is commonly thought that Spanish and Portuguese refugees during the 16th century brought fried fish to the UK. Jews were facing persecution across Portugal and Spain with many resettling here in the UK. It then became common for fried fish to be found to be sold at any time of day.
French and Belgians debate whether each nation created fried potatoes or chips, but it is known that potatoes when known in Europe since 1570.
Protestants fleeing from France for religious regions in the 17th century could have brought fried potatoes to the UK.
Joseph Malin later combined the two in 1860 to open the UK’s first fish & chips shop, he was an Ashkenazi Jew who came from Eastern Europe to London.
So there you have it, the longest-running chippy is from Yeadon, West Yorkshire, which opened just five years after Malin opened the UK’s first fish & chip shop.
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