h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

>>scallops (potato

It seems that this usage is only known in NW England. (true?) Eg in Scotland theyre Fritters. I discovered a couple of months ago that it derives from the Irish for chips.

(can dig out a ref from my F/b if you insist.)

I used it and understood it in Birmingham in the 60s.

Does anyone eat Roe (not the deer, the battered cods eggs) found in London chippies?

And what about Rock Salmon?

My mother often cooked roe and chips when I was a kid. Rock Salmon I've heard of, but I'm not sure exactly what it refers to (a quick internet search may help). I do recall the phrase Hussid Cod (again from the 60s) available from Midland's chippies.

Scallops are a very tasty sea critter, where-as scalloped potatoes have no realtionship at all. A perfect other-half to a baked ham, for instance

>>Rock Salmon I've heard of, but I'm not sure exactly what it refers to<<

Rock Salmon is also called a Dog Fish, which is part of the shark family.

@Nick:

These scallops are battered slices of potato.

The more common Canuck version of scalloped spuds, which I have met in atleast 6 parts of the country ... Peeled, sliced thin, layered with thin sliced onions and grated cheeses (optional) and a creamy rhue, 3 or 4 layers including the rhue in-between, a casserole dish and in the oven for a couple of gentle hours. A crumble sort of topping after the fact is sometimes done.

I just passed the fishmongers where I bought my oysters from yesterday and they were fitting a new shutter. It's a fairly lurid blue coloured under water scene..and the funniest thing is the coming out of the depths is this creature with the body of a ray and the head of a dolphin....It cheered me immensely...

Sounds like a great display.
Getting back to early memories (1950s), my Great Grandmother would buy and cook beautiful plaice with fantastic orange spots on their upper surface, their lower surface being white. They were delicious.

@Nick.

Thats basically yer Gratin Dauphinoise (with cream) or Savoyard (with stock).

~Gratin~ means you get it for free, btw*.

Scalloped potatoes. Why Scalloped? I associate Scalloping with slicing potatoes in a crenelated pattern, like a scallop shell. aka Crinkle Cut.

It could be that my Irish Chips theory is way off mark, mind.










*Actually, iirc it means ~crunchy bits~.

Here on the Pacific we have Rock Cod, Black Cod, Ling Cod, Red Snapper and a variety of Black Cod called *Sablefish*. Most of them are available in what you would call fish shops but the most popular is Pacific Halibut. Now and then some places batter and fry Pacific Salmon or farmed Atlantic salmon.

All good.

When I arrived in Sydney, the following night I woke at 3am..I got up and walked down the deserted streets to their amazing fish market..I tucked into snapper for brekkie there. I can still taste it..and that thrill of that being right next to the Pacific.

Anyone remember Mole's in Seahouses? Second best ever. He retired and sold the name, too - what a disappointment but the town went touristy so it's probably still doing well

Then there was the best - a little wooden hut in Annitsford which would open maybe twice or thrice a week (not necessarily regular days - the word got round). We all queued (in the rain?) for ages before he opened the door and there were always several tail-enders disappointed when his day's stock was all gone.

I was in Seahouses two weeks ago. Never saw a Moles. Went to two chippies - neither much cop.

In fact I found it an unpreposessing place altogether. We were staying in Bamburgh.

And in one chippie I got a cup of tea which was poured from a big, aluminium pot which had clearly been standing on a hotplate for a good few hours.

Who posts cows from the pub?

It might be rather hard to get them in the postbox for a start..

Sorry about that, Ntm. The place has obviously gone downhill without my (albeit distant) influence.

Mind you, I don't recall it being a special place anyway, except for Mole's, just a place to pause on the way to or from somewhere else, like Bamburgh - and Craster for the kippers.

That's proper northern tea for you

Chips are called a few different things in Irish - the theory must refer to sceallóga prátaí - sceallóga meaning chips also in the 'loose chippings' way.

No idea if there's a connection with scallops though. Quite a lot of the proposed derivations from Irish are just on the grounds of "it sounds a bit similar, so it must be!"

Weeellll...one is often led astray by teh interwebs. It was given more credence for me because I (wrongly, it seems) believed the usage to be localised to the Other Capital of Ireland.

God, I could murder a bag of them right now. From Joes Chinese Chippie.