As a nation, we spend £1.2bn* on fish and chips every year, making our way through 382 million portions.

This week (June 2nd) marks the annual celebration of the humble fish and chips, and in honour, Wren Kitchens have surveyed Brits up and down the country to discover the ultimate combination.

As a nation, the findings reveal the classic salt (37%) and vinegar (41%) is the perfect start to the dish; with a generous helping of mushy peas (28%), a dollop of tomato ketchup (25%) and a side of bread and butter (23%). Of course, there was no debate between chunky (19%) or thin (4%) chips!

With 10,500 fish and chip shops up and down the country, the perfect accompaniments to our national dish vary from the weird to the wonderful.

Although it’s a clear favourite by all, the study suggests Wales are the biggest fans of a vinegar soaked fish and chip with the South East accustomed to a salty supper.

While legend would have you believe Northerners can’t sit down to eat without a tankard of gravy, Yorkshire is in fact the curry sauce capital of the UK, with a "cuppa” being the worthy winner for those in the North East and mushy peas for the North West.

Southerners on the other hand are king of the condiments, with Londoners sticking to ketchup and those in the South West partial to a side of tartar.

But it’s the Scots that have really made the fish and chip dinner their own, with a side that no-one but them seems to have knowledge of. Scotland is the chippy sauce capital of the UK with 1 in 5 Edinburgh respondents saying it is the perfect pairing (washed down with an Irn-Bru of course!)

 

Accompaniment Capitals

Region

Item

%

East Anglia

Chunky Chips

21

East Midlands

Mayonnaise

8

London

Ketchup

33

North East

Tea

20

North West

Mushy Peas

44

Northern Ireland

Bread and Butter

31

Scotland

Brown sauce

10

South East

Salt

45

South West

Tartar sauce

18

Wales

Vinegar

49

West Midlands

Battered Sausage

15

Yorkshire & Humber

Curry sauce

28

 

 

 

Capitals calculated by taking each accompaniment and finding the region most likely to enjoy this item (based on highest % from regional respondent samples)

 

Favourite Accompaniments

Number

Item

%

1

Vinegar

41%

2

Salt

37%

3

Mushy peas

28%

4

Ketchup

25%

5

Bread and butter

23%

6

Chunky chips

19%

7

Curry sauce

17%

8

Tartar sauce

16%

9

Battered Sausage

12%

10

Tea

12%

11

Mayonnaise

10%

12

Lemon

9%

13

Garden peas

9%

14

Fizzy Pop

8%

15

Brown Sauce

7%

16

Beans

7%

17

Pickled onions

7%

18

Scraps (bits/scrumps)

7%

19

Gravy

7%

20

Chippy sauce

6%

 

 

 

Top 20 favourites calculated from overall sample size (2,000 UK respondents) when asked about their favourite side dishes to accompany fish and chips)