Fish and Chips (Beamish)

It's my all-time favourite and not a meal I thought could be improved upon. That was until the museum at Beamish opened a fish and chip shop using a traditional coal-fired range. 

The smell of an open fire mixed with fish and chips bubbling away in beef dripping is  simply impossible to resist. You only need look at the length of the queue on a cold and wet Saturday April lunchtime to appreciate the draw. 

But with the traditional comes the temperamental and we waited a good 30 minutes for our food because of difficulties getting the fat to the right temperature. All of us, Kasper, my sister, Frances, her fella David and me plumped for 'dab and chips' - essentially a smaller version of fish and chips as far as I can ascertain - but goodness me, it was worth it. 

Served up in newspaper wrapping, drenched in salt and vinegar and washed down with a bottle of delicious dandelion and burdock, this simple supper was a real treat. Don't be tempted to get chips alone, the fish, in a light, crisp batter was the highlight and is not to be missed. 

Having sampled the fish and chips, we felt it would be rude not to visit the museum's pub - the Sun Inn - where my sister and I had half-a-pint of Beamish Hall real ale. David let the side down my ordering a Kronenbourg although James later reasoned that this was ok, as having been brewed since 1664, it was probably the oldest thing there.