# What condiments/sauces do you use on fish and chips? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [November 28, 2020, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632 "2020-11-28T00:39:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632/61 "2020-11-29T20:29:16Z")
the Brits call our French Fries “chips” ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632/62 "2020-11-29T20:31:32Z")
have you tried Aioli, especially white truffle ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632/63 "2020-11-29T21:55:29Z")
Light sprinkle of malted vinegar on all then tartar for the fish, mayo for the chips and some sambal oelek or other thick spicy sauce for occasional dip and mix. If the tartar turns out naff then just a bit more vinegar on the fish . ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632/64 "2020-11-29T21:57:46Z")
Salt, vinegar and ketchup. I wouldn’t put on tartar sauce of my own initative, but I may put it on the fish if served, so that it not go to waste. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632/65 "2020-11-29T22:03:33Z")
[non-brewed condiment](https://youtu.be/642x2Y3Zla0) ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632/66 "2020-11-29T22:06:24Z")
> [@fedman1](#): > > the Brits call our French Fries “chips” British chips are closer to what Americans would call potato wedges or jo-jos. Not that they won’t call something McDonalds fries ‘chips’ though. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632/67 "2020-11-29T23:24:43Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > British chips are closer to what Americans would call potato wedges or jo-jos. I have never heard them called jo-jos. Must be a regional thing. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632/68 "2020-11-29T23:29:09Z")
Malt vinegar for the fish. Ketchup for the chips (a.k.a., fries). There is a little mixing of the two though. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632/69 "2020-11-30T00:20:33Z")
[Jo-jos.](https://www.wweek.com/restaurants/reviews/2017/07/12/the-history-of-the-american-jojo-which-is-definitely-not-a-potato-wedge/) ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632/70 "2020-11-30T00:49:54Z")
Ketchup on fish should be punished as a crime against humanity if you’re over 8 years old ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632/71 "2020-11-30T03:10:58Z")
Salt & vinegar on both, together or separately. And don’t you dare get ketchup near my food! ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632/72 "2020-11-30T04:38:32Z")
They seem closer to [steak fries](https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,g_center,pg_1,q_60,w_1600/lta0iqr87p54f5bvioog.jpg) than jo-jos. Here’s a related article debating whether steak fries are an acceptable variation of french fries. > **[Point/Counterpoint: Are steak fries a lesser form of French fries?](https://thetakeout.com/point-counterpoint-are-steak-fries-a-lesser-form-of-fr-1825116871)** > > Last week, The Takeout ran a story about Dunkin’ Donuts testing out a product called Donut Fries, wherein I spent a few hundred words spittin’ hot takes about the gratuitous use of “fries” to describe any food that’s stick-shaped (chicken fries,... ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632/73 "2020-11-30T04:43:18Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > They seem closer to [steak fries](https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,g_center,pg_1,q_60,w_1600/lta0iqr87p54f5bvioog.jpg) than jo-jos. > > Here’s a related article debating whether steak fries are an acceptable variation of french fries. > [Point/Counterpoint: Are steak fries a lesser form of French fries?](https://thetakeout.com/point-counterpoint-are-steak-fries-a-lesser-form-of-fr-1825116871) Nope. Steak fries are a thing, sure. Brits version of ‘chips’ are closer to what I said. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632/74 "2020-11-30T06:55:41Z")
I have vinegar on chips, and fresh lemon juice on fish, Tartar sauce i save for the calamari that _always_ accompanies my fish and chips. > [@Sitnam](#): > > British chips are closer to what Americans would call potato wedges or jo-jos. Sorry, no way are chips like wedges. They don’t _usually_ have the skin on, for one thing, and they’re always fried, not often baked, for another (I know that jo-jos specifically are fried - in chicken-frying oil. Yuck). Also, IME wedges are often pre-seasoned, you don’t add the seasoning. I’ve had British chips, I’ve had American wedges, and I’ve had American steak fries, and unless Texan wedges and steak fries are somehow different from those in the rest of the US, chips are much more like steak fries than they are like wedges (but different from either). Of course, none of those are as good as good South African [slap-chips](https://www.tamarindnthyme.com/south-african-slap-chips-french-fries/)… ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632/75 "2020-11-30T08:19:42Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Malt vinegar is pure Heaven. Nothing in common with white vinegar that’s used to clean coffee makers Yes, the difference between malt and white is night and day. Good malt vinegar is sublime. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632/76 "2020-11-30T09:50:49Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike1](#): > > Curry sauce is a condiment up with which I will not put. It’s dreadful on anything and in particular should not be used to defile grilled bratwurst. Little Banjo is living in Central Europe now and dotes on currywurst, I’m sure he’s doing that just to irritate me. Currywurst bears absolutely no relation to anything with curry in it. Indeed, in central europe, the yellow sauce called “curry sauce” in various work canteens and takeaways bears no resemblance to curry either. The thing they call curry sauce sometimes put on chips in the UK (I’ll go into this on another post) would be called [Chinese curry sauce](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chinese-TAKE-Curry-Powder-Sauce/dp/B07Z8D3912/), the picture there shows its consistency. To describe it is for a non particular hot, but quite tasty indian curry sauce with chinese 5 spice added to it. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632/77 "2020-11-30T10:19:31Z")
The variation here usually comes from the treatment of the chips end of the dish, and is often from the regional variations in the UK on the type of chips normal there. For the fish end, Tartar and indeed, some people put vinegar on them, but even that it’s not unusual to not. Within the UK chips vary region by region. Some areas have crispy ones, others very soft and soggy ones, some people can be horrified how bad chips are in a region once they move there. Vinegar is pretty much the normal (malt) and salt. However, some areas have the chinese curry sauce put on by default, others have gravy (not like the US gravy, dark brown and tasty), some have “mushy peas” (exactly as described). Indeed some, like in my local area, lightly batter the chips with tumeric and they’re very crisp and yellow. Some even like [Brown Sauce](https://www.hpsauce.co.uk/product/100118200001/hp-brown-sauce) on them which is perhaps a little like A1 Steak Sauce. Personally, since I lived in Belgium for a while, mines is salted with mayonnaise separately, but I didn’t really like chips until I lived there probably because of the vinegar. You can’t get vinegar to put on your chips most places in continental europe, they often come with a bunch of sauces covering mayonnaise and ketchup and sometimes horrible yellow stuff they’ll call curry which mostly resembles curry in your nightmares. ---
**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:** [November 30, 2020, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632/78 "2020-11-30T15:24:50Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > Currywurst bears absolutely no relation to anything with curry in it. Indeed, in central europe, the yellow sauce called “curry sauce” in various work canteens and takeaways bears no resemblance to curry either. The Currywurst I’ve had in Germany has actually been pretty tasty. It’s basically just a sausage (the ones I’ve had have been a smoked sausage like a knackwurst), sliced in discs, served with curry ketchup (ketchup with curry powder in it) and dusted liberally with curry powder. I don’t normally like sausages with ketchup, but the sweetness of the ketchup works well with the curry powder and overall flavor profile. It’s definitely one of my favorite Berlin street foods. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632/79 "2020-11-30T15:30:01Z")
Tried malt vinegar and like it, but I’ll always prefer tartar sauce. Or cocktail sauce if I’m feeling saucy. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632/80 "2020-11-30T21:02:04Z")
It depends on the quality of the chips. Really good ones, the kind that were a whole potato until you ordered, get nothing but salt and vinegar. Typical chips, though, get ketchup. Either way, the fish gets tartar sauce, or possibly vinegar or hot sauce, depending on my mood. The one time I tried currywurst, it was basically just a sliced hot dog with ketchup. I wouldn’t say it was bad, but certainly not anything I’d go out of my way to get. And there is absolutely no reason to ever use white vinegar in any sort of food product. There are so many wonderful flavors you can carry in vinegar, that there will always be some vinegar that’s better, for whatever you’re putting it in/on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-sauces-do-you-use-on-fish-and-chips/926632.md?page=5)