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CHILD: Fish and chips!

STEFAN GATES: Fish and chips possibly the most traditional of all British dishes. This stuff is practically in our blood. There can't be a village or a town in Britain that doesn't have it's own chippy. But to be quite honest although I love 'em - the first chip always tastes like heaven. Mm-hm. Mm-hm-hm-hm. But if I finish that whole bag of chips I would feel sick as a dog. They are just too greasy for me. They are OK as an occasional treat but I thought while I tell you all about the secrets behind fish and chips I'd make another version that is much less oily but just as tasty.

First of all though where does this fella come from?

Much of the fish we eat is caught by trawlers big old boats that use huge nets to catch the fish from the sea and bring the haul back to shore to somewhere like this - Brixham Fish Market in Devon at five o'clock in the morning.These guys are up bright and early to buy the biggest freshest bestest fish.

RINGING

The bell is not to wake everyone up - although it does help - it is the auctioneer signalling the start of the auction.

Sales!

And these chaps are here to bid and buy fish for restaurants and fishmongers all over the country.

I have got £1 by Timo. 1.10.£1. That is Timo. And that is the four kilos to Timo.

What they are doing at the minute they are all looking at the auctioneer the man who sells the fish and they are all saying to him what they want to pay for the fish and he is the person that is

1.60. That is Gordon. Deciding who will have that fish.

The fish prices go up up up up up and they are all bidding against each other. So whoever is prepared to pay the most gets the fish.

There's hundreds and hundreds of fish here all of it caught by trawlers over the previous few days and nights. But with so much to choose from what makes a good-looking fish? The buyers are looking around. They are looking for nice bright eyes they are lookingfor lovely shiny skin. They are just lookingfor a nice quality in a fish.

The auction is all over and you probably weren't even out of bed by then. Buyers load up their fishy-wishy booty into lorries and vans and that is it - until it starts all over again the next morning.

Now this fish from my chippy is cod. The thing about the chippy is that they fry everything in oil so this cod is going to be really greasy.

Let us have a little look. See if I can get some grease out of here.

You can see that. Mm-mm-mm.

Now the fat is one of the reasonswhy it tastes so good but although we need a tiny bit of fat in our diet too much of it can be really unhealthy. Frankly if I ate this whole thing I would feel really yucky. So what we are going to do is something slightly different. The fish I am using is called pollock. It is absolutely delicious. This baby has come from my local fishmonger. I am going to take the skin off underneath… like that. A coating of flour allows the egg to stick. Then it is my secret ingredient. Covered in crushed-up cornflakes my fish will stay crunchy just like it has come from the chippy. But rather than fry it in oil I am going to cook it in the oven.

There we go.

While that is baking I am going to get started on the chips. Chips are made from peeled and sliced potatoes sometimes known as spuds.

And spud you like to know some amazing facts?

Spud you like!

Eh?

(Whew. Tough crowd.)

Anyway potatoes have been grown for food for over 6000 years but only for about 500 in the UK. Full of goodness the spud gives us fibre energy and vitamins. No wonder the humble potato is the world's fourth most important food crop. Planted in spring they are harvested before the temperature of the soil gets too cold for them. So well before winter. These spuds are off to the supermarket shelves so they are washed and packed and they will be in the shop the very next day.

Now I love a chip every now and then but to make it a little bit more interesting a little bit healthier I am going to make potato wedges.

Now chop them like that the kind of way you chop an orange. The difference between these and French fries is that these little fellas soak up loads of oil because they have got a huge amount of surface area compared to one of these. So there is a lot less oil in a big one than in the small ones. Chips are usually made with peeled potatoes but the skins of spuds are full of healthy dietary fibre so keep 'em on! I am adding a small glug of olive oil that will help crisp them up in the oven and some zingy paprika. That will add a bit of colour and more importantly an extra tickle for the tongue.

Beautiful. There we go. Dead easy super-healthy fish and chips.

Now it still looks like the most familiar meal on the planet but you and I know that underneath these crispy coatings lies a world of adventure.