# Two questions about the British name "chips"... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 17, 2015, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183 "2015-03-17T09:13:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/81 "2015-03-20T16:39:30Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Frankfurters are all meat (wouldn’t get any more specific than that, but all meat). What are your British bangers made of, breadcrumbs and slaughterhouse floor-sweepings? Yeah, and some are explicitly all primal cuts beef. (Chicago’s very own Vienna Beef is 100% beef brisket). It ain’t all lips and assholes here, and I assume New York kosher dogs are similar. (Though Vienna Beef aren’t kosher, being natural casing.) ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/82 "2015-03-20T16:40:21Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > … we don’t eat Stargazey pie or Black Pudding. Exactly our point! ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/83 "2015-03-20T21:44:51Z")
> [@chaika](#): > > The peanut butter I buy is made from peanuts and salt, nothing else. No sugar or oil added. Do live in the US? Where do you buy it and what is it called? > [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > We take no lectures from a nation that eats hotdogs. > > Im a fan of American fast food. I remember the miserable hamburger joints we had here in the UK before McDonalds came to our shores. But my god, hotdogs come straight from Satan’s ass! Even in America hot dog quality can vary wildly. Cheap, generic supermarket-brand hot dogs are disgusting and inedible. Hebrew National, Nathan’s, and Oscar Meyer are all pretty good. And always buy beef, not pork ones. And in terms of US fast food in the UK: Do you guys have all the franchises there? Is Wendy’s generally deemed superior than McDonald’s or Burger King? (IMO it’s no contest…) ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/84 "2015-03-20T21:54:37Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > … > Do you guys have all the franchises there? Is Wendy’s generally deemed superior than McDonald’s or Burger King? (IMO it’s no contest…) McDonald’s and Burger King are pretty ubiquitous. There was a Wendy’s in the West End (of London) I went to many years ago, but I’ve not seen one anywhere since, which is a shame, because I remember them being delicious. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/85 "2015-03-20T21:57:28Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > And always buy beef, not pork ones. Pork (or pork & beef) ones can also be quite good, but those tend to be smaller-scale productions. My favorite hot dog is the pork & beef one from Sahlen’s (Buffalo, NY). Probably heretical for me as a Chicagoan to say, but it’s my favorite. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/86 "2015-03-20T22:02:05Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Do live in the US? Where do you buy it and what is it called? [This is a common brand](http://www.adamspeanutbutter.com/product) that can be found in most stores around here. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/87 "2015-03-20T23:57:40Z")
Let’s not forget, the Brits have a long history of eating awful, something most of us right minded Americans find absolutely offal. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/88 "2015-03-21T01:11:01Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Frankfurters are all meat (wouldn’t get any more specific than that, but all meat). What are your British bangers made of, breadcrumbs and slaughterhouse floor-sweepings? British bangers may be made of all these things but they still taste great. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/89 "2015-03-21T01:18:08Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Do live in the US? Where do you buy it and what is it called? > > Even in America hot dog quality can vary wildly. Cheap, generic supermarket-brand hot dogs are disgusting and inedible. Hebrew National, Nathan’s, and Oscar Meyer are all pretty good. And always buy beef, not pork ones. > And in terms of US fast food in the UK: > > Do you guys have all the franchises there? Is Wendy’s generally deemed superior than McDonald’s or Burger King? (IMO it’s no contest…) Fair enough, it may just be the cheap crap I have tasted. As far as franchises go in the UK: to be honest im not sure. We get your McDees, KFC, Burger King(which may be British?) etc. I haven’t personally seen a Wendy’s. All we had before McDonalds came along was the British hamburger chain Wimpy. A more depressing experience was barely imagineable than a meal at Wimpy’s. I distinctly remember raw(or as good as raw) onions on the burgers. For all the criticism of McDonalds they were a corporate breath of fresh air at one time. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/90 "2015-03-21T01:31:37Z")
You guys have curry shops on every corner – like where I live, you cannot spit without hitting a teriyaki place. ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/91 "2015-03-21T08:15:49Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Really? The English looking down upon OUR food? Maybe the Italians or the French could take such an attitude but we don’t eat Stargazey pie or Black Pudding. Black pudding is delectable and I pity your benighted ignorance that you are unable to appreciate this. As to the pie, it’s one of the most regional foods in existence, being proper not to England as a whole, nor even Cornwall as a whole nor yet even a part of the county, but the single tiny fishing port of Mousehole (Mowz’l), so I’ve heard of it but never eaten it. I imagine actually eating the heads is not compulsory. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/92 "2015-03-21T20:00:42Z")
> [@glee](#): > > In my personal experience: > > - chip butties are served with tomato ketchup and some salt (N.B. I live in the South of England, so expect that up North brown sauce is preferred) > > - Belgians like mayonnaise best on their chips > > - although Americans have some excellent cuisine, I cannot accept criticism from a culture that offers squeezy cheese :smack: Do Belgians drown their chips [in that shit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYSt8K8VP6k) or is there some variation? I’m not doubting you but wondering if this is misinformation from a very popular film. I used to love chip butties, buttered slices of bread or a big bread bun, some ketchup, salt and throw the chips in. Now I don’t appreciate is so much, it kinds of sticks in my gullet, doesn’t go down well. Now, a proper fish and chip supper I’ll drive 30 miles for. If the restaurant is near the sea, has fresh haddock and cod, knows how to cook the chips (you should cook them partially, then again so they’re cooked at least twice), plus has unlimited salt and vinegar for the chips and good tartar sauce for the fish, I’ll go out of my way to eat there. I have family near Skeggie (Skegness, a popular holiday resort by the sea) and there are about 6/7 decent chippies there. They’re cheap and satisfying but the sauces are shop bought and chips frozen. Nice big, chunky chips so they hold their heat longer in the face of the North Sea breeze, but they still taste a bit powdery. Plus the batter is cheap. I make a better batter at home using beer, I check the temperature of the fryer and make sure it’s big enough to not drop too low and make soft, gelatinous fish batter and chips. The tartar source is homemade, the vinegar brown, the salt’s from the sea and the ketchup is for the kids. Mayo never goes anywhere near a good fish and chips supper. Me and my family have never even brought a mayo jar out when we’re eating fish and chips. That would be like adding chutney to a good steak! Wrong, wrong, wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/93 "2015-03-21T21:40:25Z")
> [@JustinC](#): > > Do Belgians drown their chips [in that shit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYSt8K8VP6k) or is there some variation? I’m not doubting you but wondering if this is misinformation from a very popular film. Chips with mayo is an amazingly good combo - and yes the Belgians do that by default. It’s a thick, almost yellowish mayo, not runny at all and it is _delicious_. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/94 "2015-03-22T01:38:12Z")
The mustard-fries-snarfing Belgians I caroused with were mostly from Bruges, if that makes any difference. I remember them firmly insisting that mustard was the \*only \*Belgian fries condiment, and they savored the combination with much esteem and huzzahs as a reminder of home This took place in France during my wayward youth, nearly 40 years ago. Maybe mayonnaise has taken over since then. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2015, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/95 "2015-03-22T09:04:49Z")
In Belgium, an alternative to Mayo is Bearnaise sauce. yum! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2015, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/96 "2015-03-22T09:19:02Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Jeeze, a french fry sandwich sounds pretty bland. How are they typically condimented? Lots of butter on the bread. Salt and vinegar on the chips. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2015, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/97 "2015-03-22T09:40:21Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Lots of butter on the bread. Salt and vinegar on the chips. It’s not really a proper chip butty unless a bit of melted butter has dripped down as far as your wrist. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2015, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/98 "2015-03-22T11:44:42Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > It’s not really a proper chip butty unless a bit of melted butter has dripped down as far as your wrist. Indeed, but there should also be cool slivers of unmelted butter inside, so each mouthful is a blend of sensations. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2015, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/99 "2015-03-23T08:56:31Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > In Belgium, an alternative to Mayo is Bearnaise sauce. yum! Lived in Belgium where I picked up a love for Bearnaise sauce for my steak, but never heard of it used on fries… Still, sounds good… Anything with Bearnaise sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2015, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/100 "2015-03-23T09:06:00Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > As far as franchises go in the UK: to be honest im not sure. We get your McDees, KFC, Burger King(which may be British?) etc. I haven’t personally seen a Wendy’s. All we had before McDonalds came along was the British hamburger chain Wimpy. A more depressing experience was barely imagineable than a meal at Wimpy’s. I distinctly remember raw(or as good as raw) onions on the burgers. For all the criticism of McDonalds they were a corporate breath of fresh air at one time. Burger King is not british. It bought out the Wimpy chain, but was here before that happened (a lot of Wimpys changed to BK’s). Brits have a weird collective recall of Wimpys. It’s my favourite hamburger chain, and their quarter pounder with cheese IMHO is by far the best chain burger in the UK (ok, not tried this recent gourmet ones, but compared to the shit that BK or McD serve, seriously? People rate that crap?) Very hard to find nowadays, now that the mass hypnosis on the overcooked 2cm thick BK burgers and the tiny “Big mac” experience has took over… No Wendy’s though. McD’s doesn’t sell root beer here anymore, it did a long time ago. Regionally it sold other stuff, like Irn Bru in Glasgow McD’s. But the dominant burger chain is McD’s now. The battle is over. Tiny burgers named big won. Burger King has actually kind of failed as a high street chain nowadays. For instance, the BK in Wolverhampton shut down about 7 years ago, and never reopened. It’s now a niche fast food chain, in railway stations and service stations. I guess some cities still have them on the high street, but compared to the fact that there’s about 4 McD’s and around 7 Subways and no BK’s local to me, shows the brand failure there. I get the impression its not doing very well in the US either. Chain pubs like Wetherspoon do a reasonable burger and chips with a drink (alcoholic or not) for about same price as a chain meal, so I guess that’s where the rest of the custom went… Oh, and interesting comment on raw onions on Wimpy burgers. It’s raw onion on every BK burger. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183.md?page=6)