Abbiamo incontrato Giovanni Fionda, uno scozzese di origini italiane, che è il campione ufficiale britannico di “fish and chips”!
Everybody thinks that fish and chips are the
quintessentially British dish, but the truth is that Italian immigrants have
played an important role in their evolution. Take the example of Scottish pop
star Paolo Nutini: his family run a fish and chip shop in Paisley, to the west
of Glasgow. And if you head east
of Glasgow, the town of Coatbridge is home to Atlantic Fast Food. This was
voted “British Fish and Chip Shop of the Year.” It is run by
Giovanni Fionda, whose parents moved to Scotland from Italy. In October
Giovanni Fionda went back to Italy. He was guest of honour at the British
Consulate’s stand at the “Salone del Gusto,” or “Slow Food,” in Turin:
Giovanni Fionda (Scottish accent):
I’m Giovanni Fionda from Atlantic Fast Food in Scotland. I’m
here because we’re the British champions for frying fish and chips. We’re proud
to be here. We’ve been giving samples away today, to the Italian… to the
Italians and seeing what they make of
British fish and chips. Basically, we’ve been frying fish from the
Calabria coast, halibut, and then we’ve been frying our potatoes and we’ve
been putting that together,
preparing in the kitchens.
And we asked why the British love their fish and chips:
Giovanni Fionda:
Basically, I think it’s a few things. It’s to do with
climate, also to do with Britain’s location, we’re an island, we’ve got lots of
rain, so potatoes grow really well, the temperature’s quite medium, all year
round, so on a wet, damp, cold day there’s nothing better than fish and chips,
which gives you that comfort food feeling, it’s as if somebody’s just cuddling you and making you feel, you know, that kind of secure way and… everybody’s got
that memory, that lasting memory from childhood: fish and chips.
(Giovanni Fionda was talking to Mark Worden)
For more on Giovanni Fionda and Atlantic Fast Food, visit: http://www.atlanticfastfood.co.uk
To read the main article, click here.
