Fish and chips votes most British dish for Jubilee street party lunch with 115,000 cups of tea

May 31, 2012 - PRLog -- The findings come from localpeople.co.uk, the largest online network of community sites, who polled over 3,500 locals across 165 towns nationwide to see how the nation is choosing to celebrate the only way we know how with food and drink.

Lee Williams, General Manager localpeople.co.uk says, “Whilst everything about how the nation is marking the Jubilee weekend with fish and chips and a brew appears traditional, we are expecting Jubilee celebrations to be catalogued with images and video like no other moment in British history. Our community publishers are anticipating thousands of uploads with pictures of fish and chips and a cup of tea to be popular, creating an online memory bank that will capture this historic moment for years to come.”

Fish and Chips

Traditionally a seaside treat that has fed millions of memories, the Jubilee weekend is set to break all records. If locals who took part in the poll speak for the nation, as many as 36 million people could be expected to tuck into fish and chips over the weekend.
With Prince Charles recently championing a campaign to keep fish and chips on the menu promoting responsible fishing methods, our choice of Jubilee lunch provides the perfect opportunity to put our sustainable credentials to the test and try a different fried fillet, or two!

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall says “What a great way to celebrate the Jubilee but just because it's fish and chips it doesn't always have to be cod. Look out for more sustainable alternatives such as pollock and plaice, and Mcs certified haddock. Look out too for chip shops who are serving hot mackerel  baps. They're delicious! For more ideas and information, visit www.fishfight.net

Gregg Howard, President of the National Association of Fish Fryers says, “What better way to celebrate HM Queen’s Diamond Jubilee than by eating delicious and nutritious fish and chips. The nation’s favourite and healthiest takeaway, Great British Fish and chips, put the great back into Great Britain second only to the Royal family.”

Tim Glover, Managing Director  of www.fish2fork.com and supporter of  www.FishFight.net campaign says: “To ensure fish and chips remain on the menu for the next Jubilee and beyond, this weekend choose a fish that has been sourced sustainably at your street party. Why not mix things up with hake, gurnard or pollock?”

Ian Stead, Steels Cornerhouse Restaurant serving fish and chips for over 60 years days “We want the nation’s favourite and healthiest takeaway to be here to stay! Fresh fish is becoming harder and harder to source and more expensive to buy. Always looking more sustainable alternative to the popular haddock, we have widened our menu to include Dover, Lemon Sole, Plaice and Halibut.  If the popularity of fish and chips over the Jubilee weekend revealed by the poll are anything to go by, we expect to see long queues over all four days, as the nation celebrates with their favourite British dish.”

He added: “Grimsby and Cleethorpes are famous throughout the world for the quality of the nations traditional, favourite fish and chips. Grimsby was once the worlds "greatest" fishing port and its locals are steeped in the history and traditions of the fishing industry.”

Cup of tea

With England known internationally as a ‘teapot nation’ we are expected to sip over 115,000 cups of tea per minute in toasting the Queen’s 60 years on the throne with her favourite, and quintessentially British, afternoon refreshment.

Bill Gorman, Chairman of the UK Tea Council says “With tea the largest consumed beverage by Brits each day, we are expecting 115,000 cups of tea to be sipped per minute over the Jubilee weekend. With each of us drinking over 2kg of tea per year, Brits now drink four times as much tea per capita than India or China contributing to 40% of our daily fluid intake.”

Bethan Thomas, Marketing Manager  Newby Teas UK Ltd says “The classic choice of tea to have with fish and chips is English Breakfast.  The strong, malty flavours that hold their own against the strength of vinegar.  However, to bring out the flavour of your fish, try accompanying it with a green tea and lemon blend.  The citrus flavour not only complements the fish, but also acts as a palate cleanser, cutting through the grease of the dish.  Green tea was also the first type of tea that reached British soil, as we only began to drink black tea later in history, so consider being adventurous when you toast the Queen!”

Annie Gray, Food Historian featured on Great British Bake Off and The One Show, “For the 1887 and 1897 Jubilees, we threw ourselves into celebratory teas with great gusto, and there you could argue that we combined the general tradition of celebration through food with a very English tradition of tea taking that still holds true to how parts of the country will be toasting HM Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.”

Katy Squire, Communications Manager, Yorkshire Tea says “There is no doubt that tea is our national drink, so as we prepare for a weekend of celebrations it comes as no surprise that we’re choosing to toast the Queen’s Jubilee with a proper brew - the perfect accompaniment to cucumber sandwiches and cupcakes at a street party, or a plate of good old fashioned fish and chips with the family.”

- Notes to Editors –

Localpeople.co.uk surveyed over 3,500 locals through their network of 169 online town sites, to find out how the nation will be celebrating the Diamond Jubilee weekend. Resident and active members on the localpeople.co.uk network were asked three questions and able to select from 4-5 possible answers which they felt most closely reflected how they will be choosing to celebrate HM Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Localpeople.co.uk is the UK’s largest online website community with a reach of nearly one million locals across 169 towns, and growing, across England. According to research conducted by TGI Data, the demographic population captured by the localpeople.co.uk network matches the nation, providing an accurate snapshot of opinion in real-time. All of the community sites are run by their residents and stream local news, reviews and events in their towns. Launched in 2007 by Northcliffe Digital, the localpeople network now covers towns in London, South West, South East, the Midlands and the North, mapping the official torch route for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

•   Bringing the ‘Village Noticeboard’ into the digital age connecting residents and businesses
•   One million monthly users generating over three million pageviews
•   At least a third of the town’s population across all 169 localpeople sites are active users  - Source – Omniture regional stats vs Local Authority Data 2011

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