Christine Brindle from Harpers Fish restaurant serves Mike Chapple with their award winning English fish and chips _220
YOU can munch your donners, gnaw your pizzas and tear up your naan breads, but, when it comes to takeaway food, fish and chips is still the nation’s favourite.
And the honour of being named as one of the nation’s top high street “chippies” still carries a tremendous amount of kudos in a competitive industry that still supports 11,500 shops nationwide.
So the staff at Harpers, in Eastbank Street, Southport, should take a bow after battering the opposition to be nominated by customers as one of the top five fish and chip shops in the North- West.
The next step to winning the official National Fish and Chip Shop of the Year award involves an unannounced visit from a mystery judge who will assess Harpers on such things as product quality, customer services, hygiene and staff training.
“We’ve reached this stage once before, but we’re hoping that this year we will be chosen for the final stages and go on and win it,” said the Harpers manageress Christine Brindle, an experienced chippie of the old block who has been frying for nearly 25 years.
It will be a tough road to get to there.
The 19 area winners will now be decided before the end of next month when a further round of judging will decide the top 10 shops in Britain for inclusion in the grand final in London next year.
This will be presented by Wallasey-born celebrity chef Simon Rimmer, owner of the acclaimed restaurant Greens, in Manchester, and a regular presenter on the popular TV programme, Something For The Weekend.
Judging by the quality of their food alone, Harpers stands a good chance.
The fish is ordered daily from Fleetwood market although cod, which is still the most popular for its flaky texture, maintained Christine, is become an increasingly hard catch and, consequently, expensive.
The chips are crisp and fresh and nearly always served with that Northern necessity, mushy peas.
“Southerners don’t seem to understand that fish and chips must be served with mushy peas,” explained an emphatic Christine, who prepares them by soaking two large buckets of dried peas in water laced with bicarbonate of soda overnight, every night. The legendary Holland’s steak puddings and every brand of their top pies from steak and kidney to cheese and onion (gravy optional) are always at hand as well.
Harpers also has the added advantage of having a restaurant adjoining the counter, an increasingly rare facility, especially in Liverpool chippies.
And then there is their batter.
Christine wasn’t giving too many secrets away on its preparation, except to say: “Always use chilled water and whisk the batter well to get as much air into it as possible.”
So now you know.
