Salt And Pepper Chips: Where Does This Scouse Delicacy Come From? (2024)

Salt and pepper chips are a taste of home for Scousers and they're the delicious result of two very different cultures mixing a long time ago.

Salt And Pepper Chips: Where Does This Scouse Delicacy Come From? (1) Katherine Notman

Salt And Pepper Chips: Where Does This Scouse Delicacy Come From? (2)

Salt and pepper chips are a Liverpool staple and the odds are that if you’re reading this in Merseyside, you’ve had a plate or two yourself. These Asian-inspired chips are usually topped with peppers, onions, Chinese five spice and, of course, salt and pepper.

You’ll find them at almost every chip shop in Liverpool, but where did they come from? Well, Liverpool’s Chinatown was the first of its kind in Europe and it’s this century old influence that granted us the gift of salt and pepper chips.

A significant number of Chinese people first moved to Liverpool in 1834 to work on the docks as the first direct route from China to Liverpool docks was created. Later, some Chinese people saw the opportunity to give these Chinese sailors and dock workers a taste of home, setting up businesses selling Chinese food.

Salt and pepper seasoning is, of course, not a Scouse invention. However, salt and pepper chips are very much Scouse-Chinese. They’re a beautiful blend of two cultures – chip shop chips and salt and pepper seasoning.

You can get them in other parts of the North but nowhere are they more popular than in Liverpool. It’s not really known which chippy first served them. We’re sure many would love that claim to fame but the fact is that they’re so widespread it’s impossible to truly name any one person the inventor of this delicious dish.

Where are the best salt and pepper chips in Liverpool?

You can buy them at almost every chippy in the city but there are some that stand out as the serving the best:

Chris’s Chippy Rose Ln, L18 8AD

Penny Lane Fish And Chips, 53 Penny Ln, L18 1DE

The Lobster Pot, 19 Ranelagh St, L1 1JW

Big Bowl Noodle Bar, 12-14 Berry St, L1 4JF

Maggie Fu, 346 Smithdown Rd, L15 5AN

Woo Tan Scran, 62 Duke St, L1 5AA

Chans Fish & Chips Shop, 261 Pilch Ln, L14 0JF

Jade View, 8 Liverpool Rd N, L31 2PN

Chi Nar Kitchen, 46 Penny Ln, L18 1DG

There are plenty more to name, but you’re almost guarenteed salt and pepper places at these top spots. Some of them also offer salt and pepper boxes, including the chips alongside things like spring rolls, salt and pepper chicken and salt and pepper ribs.

Is there anything more comforting than some spicy, delicious salty and peppery chips? Absolutely not.

Salt And Pepper Chips: Where Does This Scouse Delicacy Come From? (2024)

FAQs

Salt And Pepper Chips: Where Does This Scouse Delicacy Come From? ›

So where did salt and pepper chips come from? The answer is actually pretty simple and it's all thanks to Chinese immigrants who came to Liverpool and opened up chip shops. Salt and pepper chips originated from Chinese chippies in the mid 1990s.

Where did salt and pepper chips originate? ›

History. The dish was invented by Chinese immigrant-owned fish and chip shops in Liverpool, and is a fusion of Chinese and British cuisine. It began to be served during the 1960s. It is primarily eaten in Northern England and Scotland, where it has become a fixture of Chinese takeaway restaurants.

Is salt and pepper a scouse thing? ›

Salt and pepper seasoning is, of course, not a Scouse invention. However, salt and pepper chips are very much Scouse-Chinese. They're a beautiful blend of two cultures – chip shop chips and salt and pepper seasoning.

Are salt and pepper chips authentic? ›

It's quite a classic takeout dish, at least in the UK

It's said that salt and pepper chips were first created in the 1960s in Liverpool by Chinese immigrant-owned fish and chip shops. It was a way to assimilate their cultural flavours with a much loved British staple – chips.

Where does salt and pepper chicken come from? ›

Cantonese Salt and Pepper chicken is a signature dish of Cantonese cuisine. Also known as Guangdong cuisine and commonly named as Yue cuisine throughout China. As its name suggest, it originated from Guangdong, the Southern region of China.

What country did salt and pepper originate from? ›

It's Louis XIV of France who was said to have brought the two together (only the rich could afford pepper), preferring as he did his food to be lightly seasoned with just salt and pepper, forming the basis for modern cooking. But wait, there's a twist.

Why is British Chinese food so different? ›

For Jeremy Pang, cookbook author and founder of London-based School of Wok cookery school, British Chinese food is a result of a culture exchange. "[It's] food that is influenced from one culture to the other, whichever way round you see it – from British to Chinese or Chinese to British," he said.

Why is it called scouse? ›

The word "scouse" comes from lobscouse, a stew commonly eaten by sailors throughout northern Europe in the past, and surviving in different forms there today.

What is scouse slang for? ›

People from Liverpool are known as Liverpudlians, but are usually called Scousers; the name comes from scouse, a stew originating from Scandinavian lobscouse eaten by sailors and locals.

What kind of food is scouse? ›

Scouse is a type of stew, typically made from chunks of meat, usually beef or lamb, potatoes and onion. The word comes from lobscouse, a stew that was traditionally eaten by sailors throughout northern Europe.

Why are dirty deli style chips not sold in California? ›

Consuming this product can expose you to chemicals including acrylamide, which are known to the state of California to cause cancer. Acrylamide is a chemical that can form in some foods during high-temperature cooking processes, such as frying, roasting, and baking.

What cuisine is salt and pepper? ›

Salt & pepper chicken is a Chinese dish. The chicken is coated in a well-seasoned, gently spiced cornflour mixture before being fried for a flavoursome, moreish dish. Traditionally, it's made with tongue-tingling Sichuan peppercorns, but if you can't get these, you can use black peppercorns instead.

Where is salt and pepper calamari from? ›

Salt and pepper squid might be the most popular dish in Australia. With origins in Cantonese cooking, it's a dish that has moved from Chinese restaurants to everything from local pubs, Italian cafes, Thai or Vietnamese restaurants and the corner fish and chip shop.

Why do chefs put salt and pepper on everything? ›

The reason for selecting them is probably simply their very wide availability and cheapness: salt is freely available everywhere and has a very broad culinary applicability; and black pepper is the world's most widely traded spice.

Is salt and pepper an American thing? ›

Its pairing with pepper as table accessories dates to seventeenth-century French cuisine, which considered black pepper (distinct from herbs such as fines herbes) the only spice that did not overpower the true taste of food.

Who invented salt and pepper combo? ›

Salt Meets Pepper

Salt and pepper were fated to end up together inevitably, but it was a Frenchman, Francois Pierre La Varenne, France's first celebrity chef and a royal chef to Louis XIV, who encouraged folks to combine the seasonings in the 17th century.

Where did salt and pepper shakers originate? ›

It is thought that John Mason — also the originator of the mason jar — invented the shakers in the mid-1800s, as noted by Ten Random Facts, but the shakers didn't become widespread and manufactured until the 1920s.

When did salt and pepper start rapping? ›

SALT-N-PEPA'S BIG BREAK

Their first track was recorded in 1985 during a time where rap battles were big. “The Show Stoppa” was a diss track in response to big names Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh's song “The Show.” It was ballsy for the two to take on established names for their first track in a male-dominated industry.

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