You may recall our recent feature on the birth of fish and chips. To recap: fried fish, eaten cold, was an established Sephardi dish and the first known fish and chippy in London was opened in 1860 by the Jewish Joseph Malin.

But who first put the two items together?

Aron Sterk, a researcher at Manchester University’s Centre for Jewish Studies, offers this intriguing thought.
In 1848 the Jewish Manual, or Practical Information in Jewish and Modern Cooking, was published by “A Lady”. Not only does it have a recipe for fried fish, but one also, Dr Sterk points out, for fried “potatoe shavings”.
The Lady in question was Judith Montefiore, wife of the philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore.

So after his trips around the world to aid his beleaguered brethren, could Sir Moses have returned home to a dinner of early fish and chips?