(beer battered fish and chips)

Ingredients

1) For the fish:

• 2 x 200g pollock fillets, boned but with the skin left on
• 200g self-raising flour plus extra for dusting
• 250ml of cold English beer (I used Bombardier)
• pinch of smoked paprika
• ground salt and pepper

2) For the chips:

• 5-6 medium sized maris piper potatoes, peeled and chopped into large chips
• Maldon sea-salt or rock-salt
• oil (sunflower or vegetable) for deep-frying

3)To serve:

• salt and malt vinegar
• homemade tartar sauce (recipe below)
• newspaper
• artistic license

3)Additional serving suggestions:

• bread and butter
• tomato ketchup
• mushy peas

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Preparation

• 2/3 fill a large, high sided, heavy based pan with the oil and place over a high heat.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the beer and self-rasing flour into a batter with the consistency of thick double cream, making sure there are no lumps. Place the batter mix in the fridge.
  
• Rinse the chips and throughly in cold water and dry on a kitchen towel. Toss the dried chips in a few pinches of salt.
• When the oil has reached a sufficient temperature (a cube of bread should brown and crisp in approximately 5-7 seconds) add the chips to the pan and cook for 6-8 minutes or until soft but still pale in colour. Using a slotted spoon, remove the chips and place on absorbed kitchen roll.
  Remove the batter mix from the fridge.
  
• Sift the reserved flour, season with freshly ground salt and pepper and add the pinch of smoked paprika. Turn the pollock fillets in the seasoned flour to thoroughly coat.
• Increase the heat on the oil and return the par-cooked chips to the pan. Once golden and crisp, remove the chips and immediately shovel onto yesterdays news.
• Sprinkle liberally with salt and malt vinegar and top with the fish fillets. Ladle lashings of tartar sauce on the side and destroy while hot.