Our city's chips shame
Without wishing to usurp Graham Young's position as the Birmingham Mail's undisputed king of chips, let me have a right old moan about the poor quality of fries in this city.
I just had a bagful that was woeful - the chips were limp, pale, greasy, poorly flavoured and barely warm, suggesting they'd been cooked ages ago and left.
Though these were among the worst I've ever eaten, most other chips I've recently bought have been disappointing. And that's not good enough when they don't come cheap.
I used to have a deep fat frier until it was banished by my wife from our house on the grounds of the smell it generated and the temptation it presented - unusual concerns for someone of Scottish birth, as is who would hear no argument for the device's retention.
With it I produced chips of great beauty - first cooking them at a relatively gentle heat to soften the potato, then draining them, whacking up the heat and giving then a second short blast. Inside they would be fluffy, outside crisp.
It wasn't a lengthy process. Nor difficult.
There must be room in our city for a chippy that adopts this method to produce the proper article. Surely.


It seems as though chips are not a priority anymore when every chippy seems to be trying to add everything they possibly can to their menu like pizzas and curry. I think an old style fish and chip shop/restaurant in the City Centre serving different types of fish and top quality chips would go down very well!
If such a place ever happens, I'll be first through the door!
If such a place ever happens, I'll be first through the door!