Ah, home comforts. You can take the girl out of Britain but not Britain out of the girl!
And I miss them! “But you can get other flavours here,” my German friends say when I complain about the lack of salt and vinegar crisps (although that is changing slightly with Edeka stocking salt and vinegar pringles!) Or, “There are loads of biscuits on the shelves of Kaisers, how can you miss a packet of HobNobs?”
I recently read an article about expats yearning for food from home and it’s true, well especially among the Brits, that we do miss things like crisps or biscuits. What do you miss from home?
Fish and chips may not be the most gourmet thing on the menu – but it’s damn good and it is one of my favourite foods. It’s strange because I never really had it that often when I was living in the UK. The things you end up missing when you move away…
I also recently found out that Der Fischladen serves proper fish and chips. It’s worth a visit for that and other fish dishes!
Ingredients: serves 2
2 pieces of cod fillet or other white fish. Good fish is quite hard to find in Berlin but for this recipe either try your local Kaisers or Rewe fish counter or just pick up some white fish from the frozen food section. The batter will make up for the taste. If using frozen then make sure it is de-frosted.
125g plain white flour
300ml fridge cold lager
Few sprigs of fresh dill
5 large potatoes (peeled and cut into whatever size your prefer)
Sunflower oil for frying
Salt/black pepper
Lemon wedges (to serve)
For the tartare sauce:
100g crème fraiche (enough to fill 2 small ramekins)
2 medium size pickled gherkins (finely chopped)
2 tbpsn capers (drained and chopped)
Juice of half a lemon
Few sprigs of fresh dill
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 5/ 190 degrees Celsius.
Heat 2 tbpsn of sunflower oil in a large frying pan. Once hot, add the chips with a pinch of salt and some black pepper. This will take around 20 minutes on a medium to high heat. Turn them over in the pan every now and then.
In the meantime you can make the tartare sauce. Mix everything together in a small bowl and then pour into 2 small ramekins or a serving bowl. Place in the fridge until needed.
In a medium size mixing bowl add the flour and then pour in the beer slowly while carefully whisking to form a thick paste. Add some fresh dill to the batter and leave to one side.
Once the chips are done transfer them to an oven dish and put in the oven until ready to serve. Leave the same pan on a medium heat and add more sunflower oil if needed.
Dip the fish in the batter and then add the hot frying pan. Cook on each side for around 4 minutes.
Take the chips out of the oven and drain on some kitchen paper (to get rid of any excess oil). Do the same with the fish and then plate everything up with the sauce.
Serve with lemon wedges and also some malt vinegar if you happen to have any in your cupboard!
For more great recipes check out A Modern Rose website!
