Sir, Dickens may not mention fish and chips (letters, Sept 2 & 3), but in his A Tale of Two Cities (1859) we read of chips without the fish: amid the 18th-century pre-Revolution French peasantry “Hunger rattled its dry bones among the roasting chestnuts in the turned cylinder; Hunger was shred into atomics in every farthing porringer of husky chips of potato, fried with some reluctant drops of oil.” (Book the First, Chapter 5.)
Eugene Suggett
Dorking, Surrey
Sir, Andy Cole of Cleethorpes (letter, Sept 2) should understand that it is not the growing (of the potatoes) or the catching (of the fish) that makes for a good fish and chip supper (although excellent produce is essential), it is the cooking that does the trick. So perhaps Lincolnshire should investigate why it did not have a representation in the guide.
Ray Steinberg
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Blaydon on Tyne, Gateshead
Sir, Either Mr Cole forgot, or you chose not to mention, that Steel’s in Cleethorpes is one of the top fish and chip restaurants in the country — equal to the Magpie Café in Whitby, which is also not in the guide.
Derek West
Fleet, Hants