Popped between buttered bread, unwrapped from newspaper next to the sea or crisped up in the oven for an easy dinner – chips have been a staple in British households for decades. Though our love affair with potatoes dates back as far as the 1500s, by the middle of the nineteenth century we know fried potatoes had made their way onto menus. From then, we Brits fully embraced the chip, our enthusiasm spurred on by what has arguably become our national dish – fish and chips.

Chippies might have first sprung open in the 1860s, but by 1910 there were over 25,000 of them, and during both world wars, the government cemented the importance of fish and chips by shielding them from rationing. The growth of frozen foods made chips even more commonplace in the sixties and seventies, while the likes of curly and crinkle-cut fries reached our freezers in the eighties and nineties. Whatever form they took, chips were seen as hearty, affordable (cheap as chips, you might say) and crowd-pleasing – ideal for a lazy Friday night takeaway or mid-week family meal. But as modern British cooking found its footing and our culinary horizons broadened after the turn of the millennium, chefs began to explore the potential of fried potatoes.

Partial to a thinly-cut shoestring fry? Like yours skin on and rosemary salted? Scan menus for chunky, beef dripping-fried spuds? Today, there's no end of gourmet chips, and while they’re plated up in pubs and casual restaurants, even fine dining and Michelin-starred chefs are getting in on the action, putting their own spin on the cherished chip.

In 1993, Heston Blumenthal first began work on a new way of cooking chips which involved three steps. It was, of course, the early days of the triple-cooked chip, and Heston perfected the recipe until 1995, when he first served the finished product at his Fat Duck in Bray. Simmered first, then cooled and drained, the chips were deep-fried once at 130C and cooled before being fried again at a higher temperature (he used 180C). The result? What he described as ‘chips with a glass-like crust and soft, fluffy centre’. Today, it’s a tried and trusted method in both restaurants and homes, popularised by chefs including Tom Kerridge. They became so popular that in 2014, the London Fire Brigade put a rise in chip pan fires down to demand for posh and triple-cooked chips, while The Sunday Times described Heston’s method as giving the chip a ‘new lease of life’.

Twenty years on, Heston's triple-cooked chips are still going strong. At The Pack Horse in the Peak District's Hayfield (a Michelin guide-recommended pub and number eighteen in the Top 50 Gastropubs 2023), it's the method of choice, says chef-owner Luke Payne. After all, good chips are a must for a gastropub that takes its food seriously. 'We steam our chips first, for about twenty minutes, and fluff them up in the tray,' he says. 'We then fry them at 140C for about ten minutes, and then we freeze them. And when somebody orders chips we grab them from the freezer and fry them at 180C. I don't know the science behind it, but doing it from frozen means you get the ultimate chip – crisp on the outside and properly fluffy inside.' 

Gone are the days of mediocre meals in the local boozer. Today, some of the country's best food is found in cosy country inns (including Kerridge's two-star The Hand and Flowers, which serves an upmarket fish and chips), so it's no surprise that comforting pub fare has been elevated. 'Chips are probably one of the most important things we do,' Luke nods. 'It's such a fundamental part of what good pub food is and easily our best-seller, particularly in the daytime.' The influence of the UK's street food scene also introduced us to new takes on chips – easy to customise and cook en masse, they became a go-to for the vendors who started popping up in the 2000s, with dishes like loaded fries booming in popularity and, over time, moving from street food truck to restaurant and pub menus. And as we discovered more flavours from around the world, chips became a base for fusion flavours (don't miss Danny Kingston's recipe for okonomiyaki-style here).