"When I was a lad" ... growing up in the 60s, 'up north', we used lard in an open pan with a basket. no par-boiling, no pre-cooking. I used to peel the potatoes (big russets, I think) and cut them. I absolutely loved the chips and used to steal them out of the pan as they cooked!

I remember that when you dropped the basket full of potatoes into the hot oil, the oil would react violently and almost boil over ... and that's the fire hazard, I presume. But hell, they were good cooked that way!

I don't eat fried fish or chips on a regular basis these days, partly because I want to live longer, partly because my taste-buds have 'moved on' ... so I wouldn't care about the health aspects of using lard once in a while.

..and all doors and windows had to be opened to air out the greasy smell afterwards

And the outside of the pan acquired a nasty grungy brown coating.... one thing was for sure, the chip pan never doubled up for the bedtime milk!!

I'm the same....I eat a pretty low fat diet these days (not that it's doing me much good!) but my first meal back when visiting my mam is always fish and chips...always delicious, but the effect of that unexpected assault of lard-fried batter on my inner workings is not pleasant....

All YOUR life? Dyeing my hair to cover the gray.

No seriously, thanks It was a surprise to see that tartar sauce was actually a legitimately edible substance...

Thanks everyone else too for the confidence-boosting compliments and helpful ideas

But back in the day, you could go to Woolworths and buy a replacement for a quid.

Back in Uni, we didn't even bother wash the fry pan up, would just chuck it out and get a new one every few weeks...eerrr...months

It added character....or was it "culture"....

It isn't!!

There is no way tartar sauce should come anywhere near real fish and chips.

Newspaper, Salt, Vinegar, Fingers. Nothing else.

Thank you!

Actually, I guess technically the newspaper doesn't actually touch
...it's the white butchers paper (or whatever it is) that does the job. But last time back, our local chippy had gone to serving in boxes the owner reckoned it was an EU directive, but not sure if that's true or not. At least he tried to make up for it by having newsprint on the outside of the boxesnot quite the same though....

You're welcome

Err, chip butty? Hello?

Good catch....thank you kind sir. And to pulaskis disgust, I will confess to enjoying a little ketchup in said culinary delight...not only does it blend well with the melted butter, but it adds a certain stickiness to aid in collecting scraps!

Good catch guys.

I was blinded by the thought of contaminating good Fish n Chips with....

tartar sauce.

I'm normally not a huge fan of tartar sauce but the only vinegar I could find in the house was either wine or balsamic; I thought I had malt or even white vinegar, but couldn't find any even in the laundry room. I thought I'd stretch the lemon by making the sauce; apologies to the purists