Should You Really Never Eat British Fish And Chips With Your Hands?
Fish and chips is as British as it gets when it comes to cuisine. While my fellow Americans are likely to join me in calling the dish fish and french fries, we are all well aware of the British standby and what it means to the folks living across the pond.
However, similar to countless other cuisines, how you choose to eat it is something that some take seriously. While forks and chopsticks are commonly ways to eat food, there are foods that do and don't lend themselves to being a finger food, some argue. Being used to how commonplace it is in the U.S. for apps, fries, and other breaded foods, one American woman committed what was (unbeknownst to her) the grand error of posting a video of herself enjoying some fish and chips ... without any utensils.
This debate drew eyeballs from many who weren't aware there was a proper way to eat fish and chips, as they do in the United Kingdom. Brits often down this takeaway dish with a wooden "chip" fork, but despite the controversy, the better rule is to eat the food however you see fit, for, as long as you have a napkin, this is not a dish where using your hands presents much of an issue.
It really doesn't matter how you eat fish and chips
For some additional context, Allison Kuch was the woman who, while traveling in London, ate some fish and chips with her hands at a local "chippy" — which is slang for fish and chip shop — in the city. After British people saw her eating the food without using a fork, the video went viral on TikTok and launched the debate.
@allisonkuch fish & chips more like fish & dips because the way i drank the tartar sauce
While many British people viewed Kuch's video and agreed that how you eat fish and chips is purely up to you, others were left bewildered by Americans' love of treating fish and chips like finger food. After the post gained traction on TikTok, it subsequently went viral on X (formerly Twitter), where even more back-and-forth transpired.
"Americans on TikTok loooove to eat fish and chips with their hands??? Why?" One British person wrote on X, to which an American responded, "Are you... not supposed to? Fried food is eaten with your hands what do you mean?"
Ultimately, most people came to the conclusion that it really doesn't matter if you eat the dish with your hands or with a fork and knife, just as long as you enjoy it. However, some Brits did critique a different aspect of Kuch's video — the location.
"Eating fish and chips with your hands is fine but I need Americans to know that the best fish and chips come from the seaside shops!" another British person added, "Not London!"
With all these rules, maybe it'd be for the best if Americans stick to a different British delicacy when staying in England. I've heard beans on toast is actually pretty good!