Back in October Mr What Allergy and I ventured out to our local fish and chipper in Aylesbury, The Cod Father. Love the name and love, love, love the wheat, dairy and soya free fish and chips.
Due to having both a wheat and dairy allergy it’s not usually possible to get fish and chips due to the wheat flour and milk in the batter mix though as you will discover later in this blog post, there are a growing number of chippers offering freefrom battered fish.
So it was a real treat to finally visit The Cod Father. Thanks to Debbie for the recommendation.
On the last Monday of every month The Cod Father in Aylesbury offer gluten, dairy and soya free fish and chips. It’s the day after they change all the oil over and they dedicate one fryer to the special freefrom batter.
I recommended them to the FreeFrom Eating out Awards because the fish and chips were outstanding.
The batter on mine was slightly different to the normal batter Mr WA had but it was so delicious. He tried a bite of mine and declared that it was just as good, if not better than his. He honestly couldn’t tell the difference! Hoorah! It’s been quite a long time since I enjoyed proper battered fish and chips so this was a real treat.
Well, I tell a lie, I did have the most amazing fish supper in the Lake District at Summergrove Halls, made by the ever clever and freefrom chef Chris Bridge. I really must blog about that soon.
But back to The Cod Father.
My battered haddock was just perfect. I savoured every last mouthful and the chips were cooked just how I like them, crispy on the outside and soft inside. I did fall foul of saying yes please to salt and vinegar… I wasn’t quick enough to stop the drowning but it still didn’t spoil my meal.
The staff were able to show me the packaging for the batter mix so that I could check all the ingredients and were very helpful both on the phone beforehand and on the night.
They also do battered gluten free sausages and while we were waiting for our supper someone else also ordered the #GF fish and chips so great news to see they are getting custom.
Despite their fish and chips being outstanding, it really isn’t good enough to just make great freefrom fish and chips on one day of the month to be in with even a sniff at the FreeFrom Eating Out Awards.
For now though, for me, I am very grateful that The Cod Father are offering this special freefrom night but if you can’t make that particular date you’ve missed another whole month of battered fish and chips. I’ve got it booked in my diary now and am looking forward to our next visit.
The overall winner was Wolfies of Hove who, get this, offer freefrom fish and chips EVERY DAY!
‘Wow! Gluten-free fish and chips on offer all day and every day and all cooked in dedicated pans and fryers! And, even better, all the batters are also dairy free and egg free!’
‘Delicious oak-smoked haddock, lovely crunchy golden batter served with gluten-free vinegar! Also on offer, gluten-free sausages and they are working on gf pie and mash with liquor. Can’t wait! It was one of the freshest, best and best value fish and chip meals I have ever eaten!’
Follow the link above to see more brilliant fish and chips shops which were highly commended and commended.
There could be one near you! Which is your favourite #freefrom fish and chip shop?
Glad you enjoyed it, Ruth. They used to do it every week but then went down to every month and I hope they’ll keep doing it next year. They went down to monthly because they said the number of GF people turning up varied a lot from time to time. Let’s all make the most of this while we have it, which will also mean it’s more likely to stay long-term 🙂 (Yum!!!)
I agree! I’ll be back. I missed it this week because I went to enjoy mulled wine and to listen to Sharon Bolton talking at Wendover library about crime writing. I will definitely be going again and have written it in my diary for the next few months. Come on Aylesbury – support your freefrom chipper or we’ll lose it!
Sharon Bolton?
Oops… Corrected my comment ?