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'WORLD'S BEST FISH AND CHIPS' USING VALE'S FRESH CHIPS

16th April 2008, 9:56am

Aiming to serve 'The world's best fish and chips' isn't an idle boast. There's common consent that if there was a Michelin guide for chippies, The Three Cottages in North Walsham, Norfolk, would be amongst the select 'three stars' category.

If you want to know how it's done, ask the fryers, David Audley and Sam Homfray. In a 35 year career David's not stopped hunting for the perfect chip. While his standards have always been high, he has often questioned the quality of the raw chips available to commercial caterers.

"Our previous chip wasn't always made from my favourite Maris Piper variety, and the results could be very variable", he recalls. "Our customers wouldn't necessarily notice, but I did and I wasn't satisfied. I want perfection."

When he met consumer potato specialist Greenvale at a potato industry forum last year he voiced his concerns. "They said they were already developing a new range aimed specially at the caterer", he recalls. "They were growing Maris Piper - no question that's the best variety for chips - and it was 100% British-grown and fresh, as well as being vacuum packed instead of atmosphere-controlled."

The fresh chips were developed through Greenvale's new catering brand, Vale's Fresh. During the summer of 2007 David tried samples of the new chips alongside his existing ones. He was extremely impressed, but suggested a number of changes, which Vale's Fresh were happy to take on board.

"But it wasn't only the basic quality. I really like the way Vale's Fresh trim off all the blemishes and damage and remove the small off-cuts. The small pieces in many prepared chips can be a real nuisance and with our old product, a member of staff could need to trim large numbers of chips to get the completely clean product we need."

So what's the secret of his success, apart from choosing great ingredients? Of course, attention to detail comes into it - frying at exactly the right temperature for the right time in the right ingredients, storing for the right time, and so on.

Also, David prefers to fry in beef dripping. "I feel it cooks the chip better, gives it a great flavour and leaves less of itself on the chip. And it's just as healthy - if not healthier - than the alternatives."

However, he knows that other fryers will prefer different types of oil, for a variety of reasons, and believes that the Vale's Fresh chip will give its best in a variety of oils. He also believes in blanching - a par-fry to prepare the chips, and a final short fry just before service to crisp them off.

Yet, should 'the world's best fish and chips' be buying its chips ready prepared? It's an important issue which David answers emphatically. "Yes, no question," he says. "I'm happy to leave the initial preparation to someone else. They can select the potatoes at the right moment, ensure consistent supply and quality, and deal with a lot of the issues a small business finds expensive or tricky."

For example, peeling, washing and chipping all use a lot of energy and prodigious amounts of water. New regulations are likely to make waste disposal harder, and the water from washed potatoes may well have to be treated before disposal. This is a major issue for a 'craft' business where quality has to come before profit.

"Vale's Fresh are producing a very, very good product," David says. "They are very consistent, give perfect results and save me a lot of time and effort as well."

Nolwenn Guezou, Sales Manager at Vale's Fresh, says "We spoke to caterers like David to make sure we got things the way they wanted - the flavour, the shape, the texture, the thickness. But there were other big considerations, particularly consistency, quality and availability. Greenvale's strong relationship with British growers provides a guarantee of these too."

Fresh Chips from Vale's Fresh are available in a variety of catering pack sizes (2.5kg, 5kg and 10kg), via catering food wholesalers.

For more information on The Three Cottages, visit www.bestfishandchips.co.uk or phone 01692 403819.

For more information and details of local stockists contact Vale's Fresh on 01945 469840. Greenvale's website is www.greenvale.co.uk

Weblink: www.valesfresh.co.uk