5 Myths About Fish and Chips That Need to End

Fish and chips is one of the most discussed and least accurately understood foods in the British diet. Over decades, a set of myths has accumulated that are repeated confidently and are largely wrong. As people who work with fish every day in Brixham, one of the UK’s most important fishing ports, we thought it was time to address a few of them directly.

Myth 1: Frozen Fish Is Always Inferior to Fresh

This is wrong in a way that deserves some unpacking. Fresh fish is better than frozen fish only if it is genuinely fresh, meaning landed recently and handled well. Fish that has been sitting in a chilled display for four days is not superior to fish that was flash-frozen within hours of being landed.

Much of the “fresh” fish sold in the UK has been chilled for several days during transport from the landing site to the market to the retailer. Flash-frozen fish, particularly if it has been frozen at sea shortly after catching, can be in better condition than nominally “fresh” fish that has been handled for days at above-zero temperatures.

Our position at Fishionados is straightforward: we use fresh locally landed fish where possible because our proximity to Brixham market makes this genuinely achievable. But we will not pretend that fresh automatically means better. Good freezing beats poor chilling.

Myth 2: Battered Fish is Unhealthy

Fish in batter is not a diet food, but the nutritional story is more nuanced than the dismissal suggests. A portion of battered fish provides high-quality protein, the omega-3 fatty acids found in the fish flesh, and depending on the species, a range of vitamins and minerals including vitamin D, B12, and iodine. The batter adds carbohydrates and fat from the frying oil.

The fat absorbed during proper deep frying in clean, correctly-temperatured oil is lower than people assume, particularly for fish with a dense, structured flesh that does not absorb oil readily. A portion of battered hake or pollock fried correctly is a nutritionally reasonable meal, not a nutritional emergency.

Myth 3: All Chip Shops Use the Same Fish

They do not, and the difference matters significantly. A chip shop using fresh locally landed fish from Brixham market is serving a fundamentally different product from one using thawed commodity white fish from an industrial processor, regardless of whether both put “cod” on the menu.

Brixham lands fish from dayboats that have been at sea for a day or less. The difference in texture and flavour between this and fish that has been at sea for ten days on a factory vessel, processed, frozen, shipped to a distribution centre, and thawed in a commercial kitchen is substantial.

Myth 4: The Bigger the Portion, the Better the Value

A thinner fillet of genuinely fresh high-quality fish is better value than a larger portion of mediocre fish, even if the price per gram appears higher. The eating quality, the flavour, and the nutritional content of fresh locally landed fish justifies the premium over industrial commodity product. Value in food is about what you are actually eating, not just the volume on the plate.

Myth 5: Cod Is the Only Proper Fish for Fish and Chips

We address this in detail in our Beyond Cod blog, but briefly: this is historically false (haddock has been the dominant fish and chip fish in Scotland and Northern England for generations), gastronomically wrong (hake, pollock, gurnard, and coley are all excellent in batter), and environmentally problematic given the pressure on cod stocks.

The best fish and chips is made from the freshest, best-quality fish available that day. At Brixham, that varies. We will always tell you what it is.

Find us in Brixham at Summercourt Way