Fried, battered fish...

...with gravy on ?


You sir, are mental.

Where exactly do you get a pie barm? Is it a chip shop 'dish'? First I've heard of it actually being a thing.

I have heard of Macaroni pies existing in Scotland, though, which sound just as bad.

Do you think so?
I know plenty who have gravy on battered fish, seriously.

I've seen a fair few do it, too. Still think it's weird, personally. As is my uncle who dips his toast in his tea.

I feel ill, won't the batter go soggy and how do you reconcile eating fish that now tastes of beef gravy ?

It sounds almost as bad as that Sintellins delicacy: split fish and curry.

I initially wondered what a split fish was but apparently a split is a poly tray with 2/3rds chips and 1/3rd mushy peas, a piece of battered fish is the placed on top and curry sauce poured over the lot.

That is wrong on so many levels

It's not a bad combo, give it a whirl?
Must be honest I only probably fell into it about a decade ago.
Some female I was knocking about with encouraged me into it and I've never looked back.


Even got my solicitor mate/next door neighbour into it.
It's my shout to get them tonight for us.

Quite partial to a couple of battered sausages with chips and curry sauce from same chippie.

Just seen your post.
Is curry acceptable with chips and deep fried sausages?

You would get a pie barm from any bakery that sell both pies and barms. E.g. Greenhoulgh's

Black peas. Always had them on Bonfire Night and they sold them from stalls when the wakes came to Leigh.

Gravy on fish? You dirty b'stard

Chips pudding and gravy with a B4RM CAKE

My wife can't understand why I like the bread of my bacon butties dipped in the liquid bacon fat. Surely that's normal in Northern climes?

I often eat bread & dip without the bacon inside

I assume you've not tried a balti pie?

I sampled one of these for the first time last week.

The local delicacy in Carlisle appears to be patties which are large battered balls of meat or cheese. I've been here 6 years and haven't plucked up the courage to try one.

Likewise.

Hull has a long and proud tradition of making patties, the women employed in their production are called patty-slappers. A chip shop patty is a flattened ball of potato, seasoned with sage and onion, battered and deep fried. Anything else is just so wrong

Nor have I ever tried a chicken egg foo yung pie. If I want a balti I'll either make one or visit one of a very small number of restaurants and then let them cook one for me. I'll then use chapatti or naan to scoop up my balti, the last thing I'd ever do is put the balti in a pastry case, especially if that case was puff pastry insteaf of shortcrust.

They sound rank but the taste better than they sound



Depends where in the North you are, to me a patty is two slices of potato with some fish in between battered and deep fried.

Rightly or wrongly, we used to call that a scallop when I was a lad.

They're called scallops in Hull too. I've seen them variously described as fritters or "fish specials", although there's buggerall special about the fish inside them. Usually it's just a way of using belly-flaps that would simply get chucked otherwise and the reason you don't see them so much now is because most chippies couldn't fillet a fish for their lives

I tried a chicken one at an away game at Griffin Park.
It was oblong and a bit wobbly.
I bit off the corner and drank the contents.
Bloody awful ... but needs must when you're absolutely ravenous.

I'm aware of that but it is no recommendation or excuse.
It merely serves to reinforce the view that, apart from Rugby League, there is no reason to visit Leigh unless you really, really have to.