Fish and chips in the context of "Batter (cooking)"

British cuisine consists of the cooking traditions and practices associated with the United Kingdom, including the regional cuisines of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. British cuisine has its roots in the cooking traditions of the indigenous Celts; however, it has been significantly influenced and shaped by subsequent waves of settlement and conquest, notably those of the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, and the Normans; waves of migration, notably immigrants from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, China, Italy, South Africa, and Eastern Europe, primarily Poland; and exposure to increasingly globalised trade and connections to the Anglosphere, particularly the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Highlights and staples of British cuisine include the roast dinner, the full breakfast, shepherd's pie, toad in the hole, and fish and chips; and a variety of both savoury and sweet pies, cakes, tarts, and pastries. Foods influenced by immigrant populations and the British appreciation for spice have led to the invention of new curries. Other traditional desserts include trifle, scones, apple pie, sticky toffee pudding, and Victoria sponge cake. British cuisine also includes a large variety of cheeses, beers, and ciders.

Deep frying (also referred to as deep fat frying) is a cooking method in which food is submerged in hot fat, traditionally lard but today most commonly oil, as opposed to the shallow frying used in conventional frying done in a frying pan. Normally, a deep fryer or chip pan is used for this; industrially, a pressure fryer or vacuum fryer may be used. Deep frying may also be performed using oil that is heated in a pot. Deep frying is classified as a hot-fat cooking method. Typically, deep frying foods cook quickly since oil has a high rate of heat conduction and all sides of the food are cooked simultaneously.

The term "deep frying" and many modern deep-fried foods were not invented until the 19th century, but the practice has been around for millennia. Early records and cookbooks suggest that the practice began in certain European countries before other countries adopted the practice.

A fish and chip shop, sometimes referred to as a chip shop or chippy, is a business which specialises in selling fish and chips. Usually, fish and chip shops provide takeaway service, although some have seating facilities. Fish and chip shops may also sell other foods, including variations on their core offering such as battered sausage and burgers, to regional cuisine such as Indian food.

Variations on the name include fish bar, fishery (in Yorkshire), fish shop and chip shop. In most of the United Kingdom including Northern Ireland, they are colloquially known as a chippy or fishy, while in the Republic of Ireland and the Aberdeen area, they are more commonly known as chippers.

Tartar sauce (French: sauce tartare), often spelled tartare sauce in the UK and other Commonwealth countries, is a cold, mayonnaise-based condiment typically mixed with chopped cornichons or gherkins and capers, along with soft herbs such as tarragon, dill, parsley and chives. It is commonly served with fried or breaded seafood dishes including fish and chips, fish sandwiches, fried oysters and calamari.

Tartar sauce developed from eighteenth-century dishes served à la tartare, breaded meats and fish paired with pungent cold dressings. Nineteenth-century cookbooks contained yolk-free and mayonnaise-based versions, and writers such as Alexis Soyer and Jules Gouffé positioned the sauce within the mayonnaise family. By the early twentieth century Auguste Escoffier presented tartar sauce with fried fish and tied it to steak tartare, while English usage of the term dates to the 1820s.