Well, I'm in Hawaii in August and my greatest two fears were big, fat, obnoxious, small minded Americans and more crucially, not being able to get a decent hot chip!
Much to my pleasant surprise, I had to retract and reconsider, in a most humbling manner, my media driven narrow minded opinion of Americans.
Sure if you go to Burger King or Mickey D's (as they call it here) you'll see fries, you'll probably also see all those fat people too. But everyone we spoke to was polite, more worldly than I had imagined, educated, interesting, kind and not that fat at all. In fact, obesity seemed rare in this tropical isle, most were probably fitter than I.
But more importantly, they do a great chip !
At steakhouses and as bar snacks we discovered some old school, unpeeled, big chunky chips ! Traditional and tasty, long and large cut, fried skins holding fast to long chunky chips cooked in clean oil. I was most pleasantly surprised, particularly that the menus always describe them as 'fries'.
On the first occasion, in anticipation of disappointment and in desperation I ordered a side of those 'fries'. Desperate for a taste of any oily potato stick, no matter how it was presented, I waited in morose expectation of a horrible salty plate of french fries.
As we quietly discussed how all these Americans are nice, not fat and mostly well educated or at least more knowledgeable about affairs than I had anticipated the 'fries' arrived. Hooray ! Double Hooray ! Big, thick cut old school chips, and pretty damn tasty too boot, y'all.
Subsequent orders of 'fries' came as a pleasant chippy surprise. I had to humbly retract and revise all my preconceptions about the US, it's inhabitants and it's chips !.
I would willingly go back to Hawaii any day, though not just for the chips of course :-)
Friday, December 6, 2013
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Hawker shops - old school chippery
I visit a friend of mine every other week or so and we usually get a fried feast for dinner from the fish and chip shop in Hawker.
Until about a year ago it used to be owned and run by multiple generations of Italian heritage. For some unknown historic reason (perhaps recorded in a Nino Culotta novel?) these folks were always 'traditionally' the proprietors of the pizzeria/fish and chip shop. I think that's pretty universal across Oz.
The new owners were trained up in a long transition and 'Nonna' still works there occasionally. After a few hiccups post transition they've settled into a reasonably consistent practice. At least as consistent as the previous owners anyway...you could never be sure of the quality of the end product.
Dependent on the day of the week and the age of the oil in the vat you could get a sublime crispy stick or a stodgy, heavy mushy chip. Either way they were always passable, if not great.
And nothing has really changed. Sometimes I'm greatly impressed at the golden, fluffy and sharp crisp corners of a great serve of chips and other times they are simply hole fillers of no great acclaim. But they do adhere to the single unerring rule - chips are thick cut, unlike those anorexic fries.
Sometimes they overladen them with salt too, and sometimes none at all?? The variance is always an exciting surprise.
So, are they any good? Yes, most of the time. Relatively consistent in a range between the average and ordinary with the occasional rise to pretty damn good. The anticipation and mystery on opening the steaming paper parcel around my mates coffee table is half the fun of buying chips from the Hawker chippery (and pizza shop).
Chip Score: 6/10 - ALWAYS EDUCATIONAL, THE VARIANCE INCREASES MY ERUDITION OF THE HUMBLE HOT CHIP
Until about a year ago it used to be owned and run by multiple generations of Italian heritage. For some unknown historic reason (perhaps recorded in a Nino Culotta novel?) these folks were always 'traditionally' the proprietors of the pizzeria/fish and chip shop. I think that's pretty universal across Oz.
The new owners were trained up in a long transition and 'Nonna' still works there occasionally. After a few hiccups post transition they've settled into a reasonably consistent practice. At least as consistent as the previous owners anyway...you could never be sure of the quality of the end product.
Dependent on the day of the week and the age of the oil in the vat you could get a sublime crispy stick or a stodgy, heavy mushy chip. Either way they were always passable, if not great.
And nothing has really changed. Sometimes I'm greatly impressed at the golden, fluffy and sharp crisp corners of a great serve of chips and other times they are simply hole fillers of no great acclaim. But they do adhere to the single unerring rule - chips are thick cut, unlike those anorexic fries.
Sometimes they overladen them with salt too, and sometimes none at all?? The variance is always an exciting surprise.
So, are they any good? Yes, most of the time. Relatively consistent in a range between the average and ordinary with the occasional rise to pretty damn good. The anticipation and mystery on opening the steaming paper parcel around my mates coffee table is half the fun of buying chips from the Hawker chippery (and pizza shop).
Chip Score: 6/10 - ALWAYS EDUCATIONAL, THE VARIANCE INCREASES MY ERUDITION OF THE HUMBLE HOT CHIP
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Shelley Beach NSW - support your SLSC
We were on our way back from a week in Forster, well Green Point to be exact. (Now there's a lovely spot.) In an absence of paid work and my partner Jen having an operation we took some R&R and escaped Canberras' freezing bite.
We took the coastal tourist route south of Newcastle to have a look at Catherine Hill Bay, 'Catho', with half an idea of continuing my novice attempts at surfing. The surf wasn't great and I was stiff and sore from being pulled by the currents and rips in my earlier pathetic attempts at emulating Kelly Slater during the day at Boomerang Beach, so I gave it a miss. We did try to stop at the Catho Pub for a chip but they seem to have something against them there. On the bistro menu in bold letters was printed "NO CHIPS", so we drove on.
We meandered through The Entrance scouting for a suitable chippery and soon found ourselves exiting The Entrance without spying a single decent looking chip shop. I hung a random left to Shelley Beach (much to the consternation of our GPS guide, with an NZ accent) through the golf course and onto the the beach promenade. With the dull, squawking wit of a seagull I had managed to drive straight to a little beach shack cafe run by the surf life saving club.
We ordered a reasonable size serve of chips, coffee and chicken burgers. The coffee was surprisingly good, the burgers not too bad either but the chips were great! Served in an open cardboard shell they were big and chunky, nicely golden and not too heavily salted. I had to stop myself eating all of them to save room for my burger. On our week away these were easily the best chips we had and were a contender right up there with the Akaroa 'holy grail' of chips. Most impressive and a sublime finale to our week away, sitting on a beachfront park bench watching whales breach in the distance whilst crunching into a very good chip.
Chip score: 8/10 ALWAYS CHIP BETWEEN THE FLAGS
We took the coastal tourist route south of Newcastle to have a look at Catherine Hill Bay, 'Catho', with half an idea of continuing my novice attempts at surfing. The surf wasn't great and I was stiff and sore from being pulled by the currents and rips in my earlier pathetic attempts at emulating Kelly Slater during the day at Boomerang Beach, so I gave it a miss. We did try to stop at the Catho Pub for a chip but they seem to have something against them there. On the bistro menu in bold letters was printed "NO CHIPS", so we drove on.
We meandered through The Entrance scouting for a suitable chippery and soon found ourselves exiting The Entrance without spying a single decent looking chip shop. I hung a random left to Shelley Beach (much to the consternation of our GPS guide, with an NZ accent) through the golf course and onto the the beach promenade. With the dull, squawking wit of a seagull I had managed to drive straight to a little beach shack cafe run by the surf life saving club.
We ordered a reasonable size serve of chips, coffee and chicken burgers. The coffee was surprisingly good, the burgers not too bad either but the chips were great! Served in an open cardboard shell they were big and chunky, nicely golden and not too heavily salted. I had to stop myself eating all of them to save room for my burger. On our week away these were easily the best chips we had and were a contender right up there with the Akaroa 'holy grail' of chips. Most impressive and a sublime finale to our week away, sitting on a beachfront park bench watching whales breach in the distance whilst crunching into a very good chip.
Chip score: 8/10 ALWAYS CHIP BETWEEN THE FLAGS
Akaroa NZ - the holy grail found !!
We had finished our lap of the South is. in Dec 2009 and were on the home stretch back to Christchurch before flying up to Wellington. We had booked a night in the Onuku (Oh-No!-ku..see my review on tripadvisor.com) farm backpackers and stopped on the waterfront in Akaroa for a late afternoon feed.
There's a fish and chip shop facing the water about halfway up the street, Rue Jolie, with big wooden seats and benches out the front.
Akaroa is an unconvincing, hokey recreation of a French provincial village, apparently because a bunch of French people populated the place in its early days. It's really just another seaside holiday village like you might find in many parts of the world, I imagine. Geographically, its in an awe inspiring location and the views from around the steep hillsides are relatively nice, though NZ has far more majestic locales than this.
Akaroas' saving grace is the fish and chip shop for sure! We ordered the usual gargantuan serve of chips and sat down to wait whilst we watched the local bogan family next to us destroy every morsel of their food, chips, nice pieces of fish and everything else on their table by dunking it all in tomato sauce ! They had even brought their own just to be sure !! Why you would want to kill the sweet flavour of freshly cooked fish with a glug of salty tomato sauce, I really dont know...
Our serve of chips arrived and they were a creamy even golden, large fingers of chip, crispy and crunchy on each edge, still steamy and fluffy in the middle. They obviously use a different type of potato (we found quite a variation of spud type in NZ) than most and it paid gold !! What a chip ! Magnifique ! ooh-la-la!
Easily the most impressive chip I have ever eaten.
Chip score: 9.5/10 MAGNIFIQUE
There's a fish and chip shop facing the water about halfway up the street, Rue Jolie, with big wooden seats and benches out the front.
Akaroa is an unconvincing, hokey recreation of a French provincial village, apparently because a bunch of French people populated the place in its early days. It's really just another seaside holiday village like you might find in many parts of the world, I imagine. Geographically, its in an awe inspiring location and the views from around the steep hillsides are relatively nice, though NZ has far more majestic locales than this.
Akaroas' saving grace is the fish and chip shop for sure! We ordered the usual gargantuan serve of chips and sat down to wait whilst we watched the local bogan family next to us destroy every morsel of their food, chips, nice pieces of fish and everything else on their table by dunking it all in tomato sauce ! They had even brought their own just to be sure !! Why you would want to kill the sweet flavour of freshly cooked fish with a glug of salty tomato sauce, I really dont know...
Our serve of chips arrived and they were a creamy even golden, large fingers of chip, crispy and crunchy on each edge, still steamy and fluffy in the middle. They obviously use a different type of potato (we found quite a variation of spud type in NZ) than most and it paid gold !! What a chip ! Magnifique ! ooh-la-la!
Easily the most impressive chip I have ever eaten.
Chip score: 9.5/10 MAGNIFIQUE
Lyneham ACT - my local
I go to my local about once a week and the chips, well they're almost fries not chips, are of variable quality but never bad. I like going there as the owners are Vietnamese and talking to them always reminds me of the great times I had in that country. Also, I get to say "Hen gup lai" on my way out. I love that!
I usually go on Tuesdays and order a steak sandwich as well. A meal fit for a king!
The chips are a little skinny and verge on being a 'fry' not a chip, however the relative consistency of their cooking leaves me no cause for complaint.
They always ask if I want regular salt or chicken salt and they don't smother the chips with half the granular contents of the Dead Sea, which is a common event in Australia. - "Do you want some chips with that pile of salt?" Bleh.
The servings have slightly shrunk over time, no doubt forced by the impact of the GFC, but the price hasn't gone up - still $3.
The shop is always clean and the service is occasionally awry, just like Vietnam! I love it.
Chip score: 6 - 7/10. CONSISTENT
I usually go on Tuesdays and order a steak sandwich as well. A meal fit for a king!
The chips are a little skinny and verge on being a 'fry' not a chip, however the relative consistency of their cooking leaves me no cause for complaint.
They always ask if I want regular salt or chicken salt and they don't smother the chips with half the granular contents of the Dead Sea, which is a common event in Australia. - "Do you want some chips with that pile of salt?" Bleh.
The servings have slightly shrunk over time, no doubt forced by the impact of the GFC, but the price hasn't gone up - still $3.
The shop is always clean and the service is occasionally awry, just like Vietnam! I love it.
Chip score: 6 - 7/10. CONSISTENT
Bega NSW - cold day, even colder chip
It had started to rain on our way back from our weekend down the far south coast in late 2008. I still couldn't surf and we still hadn't found a reasonably priced property to buy.
Some consolation late Sunday afternoon chips would no doubt cheer us up. We pulled over in the dreary, rural appropriately named main street of Bega, Carp St. and found the nearest fish and chip shop, not too hard there is only one.
It seemed fine, the usual Streets ice cream freezer, the omnipresent fridge jammed with multiple shelves of various sizes of Coke (do people really drink that much Coke?!! I don't drink it myself..), the range of assorted crumbed and fried mystery objects in the food warmer, nothing suspicious to forewarn of what was to come.
We ordered a gargantuan serve of chips and sat back to wait for the warming hot paper bundle to be handed over. Just over 36 seconds later - "hereyago"...gee, that was quick.
We huddled back in the car and as the windows steamed up and the dogs hung over our shoulders looking hungry we pulled open the wad and grabbed what appeared to be a standard, hot, steaming chip. Bit into it and BLEH! - still frozen in the middle !!! These unthawed sticks had been briefly wafted through the luke warm oil, just long enough for them to be coated in a thin film of lard and nowhere near long enough for them to even thaw in the middle. Shame really, they actually presented quite well.
Chip score: 2/10 COLD
Some consolation late Sunday afternoon chips would no doubt cheer us up. We pulled over in the dreary, rural appropriately named main street of Bega, Carp St. and found the nearest fish and chip shop, not too hard there is only one.
It seemed fine, the usual Streets ice cream freezer, the omnipresent fridge jammed with multiple shelves of various sizes of Coke (do people really drink that much Coke?!! I don't drink it myself..), the range of assorted crumbed and fried mystery objects in the food warmer, nothing suspicious to forewarn of what was to come.
We ordered a gargantuan serve of chips and sat back to wait for the warming hot paper bundle to be handed over. Just over 36 seconds later - "hereyago"...gee, that was quick.
We huddled back in the car and as the windows steamed up and the dogs hung over our shoulders looking hungry we pulled open the wad and grabbed what appeared to be a standard, hot, steaming chip. Bit into it and BLEH! - still frozen in the middle !!! These unthawed sticks had been briefly wafted through the luke warm oil, just long enough for them to be coated in a thin film of lard and nowhere near long enough for them to even thaw in the middle. Shame really, they actually presented quite well.
Chip score: 2/10 COLD
Vietnam 333 - the worst chip ever?
Holidays in Vietnam. Fresh food abounds, greens and spices, tang and zest. I put on 3 kilos in Vietnam in 3 weeks! I couldn't get enough of the food until....
We were on the last leg of our trip and back in Saigon in the backpackers street, Bui Vien. Right on the corner of Bui Vien and De Tham is (or was in 2007?) a Westernised backpacker bar called '333'.
We ordered some fries with our happy hour beers and sat back to watch the always interesting street action. A plate soon arrived with some sad, stringy, greasy, soggy, half cold, overly salted and purely disgusting fries firmly anchored to the plate by a layer of cooling grease. They even smelled bad! What did I expect in Vietnam?!?
They were nearly $2AUS (30,000 D) too ! The beer was half the price.
Disgusting. I had two or three and left them on the plate. I had to ask the waiter to take them away, just looking at them made me ill. This appalling attempt at the humble chip was the catalyst for this much belated blog.
Chip score: 1/10 YUK !!
We were on the last leg of our trip and back in Saigon in the backpackers street, Bui Vien. Right on the corner of Bui Vien and De Tham is (or was in 2007?) a Westernised backpacker bar called '333'.
We ordered some fries with our happy hour beers and sat back to watch the always interesting street action. A plate soon arrived with some sad, stringy, greasy, soggy, half cold, overly salted and purely disgusting fries firmly anchored to the plate by a layer of cooling grease. They even smelled bad! What did I expect in Vietnam?!?
They were nearly $2AUS (30,000 D) too ! The beer was half the price.
Disgusting. I had two or three and left them on the plate. I had to ask the waiter to take them away, just looking at them made me ill. This appalling attempt at the humble chip was the catalyst for this much belated blog.
Chip score: 1/10 YUK !!
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