Austen Dack of Ely might just have the perfect job but unfortunately he’s not leaving

Imagine a job that takes you around the world and involves eating fish and chips. It sounds like a dream job for some and one man who lives in Ely in Cambridgeshire does just that.

Austen Dack is the Publishing Editor of the Chippy Chat Platform, which publishes both online and in-print.

It is a trade body which shares news to fish and chip shop and takeaway owners from across the UK (and world). It covers everything from fish, batter, sausages, pies, classic drinks, oils, fats, and platforms such as Just Eat etc.

Each month Chippy Chat is delivered into thousands of fish and chip shops by post and via www.chippychat.co.uk. Typically, around 50 pages, there are 12 issues printed a year.

Austen says: “During the course of a year we will publish over 600 pages of news from across the fish and chip industry some of which is from my various visits to try fish and chips at shops both home and abroad.

“Here in the East, we produce some of the best potatoes in the world, many of which end up at one of the 10,000 fish and chip shops we have in the UK.

“We have some fantastic farmers responsible for growing the best suited chip frying varieties.”

Chippy Chat is owned by Isle of Ely Produce who themselves send over 2 million bags of potatoes into fish and chip shops. As well as being in charge of the only printed magazine in the UK for the fish and chip trade, Austen also organises events too.

Just recently, for example, he helped to organise the Chip Barons’ Ball in Peterborough and the Chip Shop Owners Open Day in Ely at the Isle of Ely Produce farm.

Austen said “The ball is always such fun as we attract over 200 people from across the UK to attend. It is a warmup for the National Fish & Chip Awards which are held in London every February.

“This year we had a great Oasis tribute band, plus a full casino, photobooth and a fantastic three course dinner.”

The annual open day has seen over 1,000 chip shop owners come through the farm doors. With a forty-foot full AV stage and speakers from across the sector it is a chance for owners to see firsthand the journey the potato makes all the way from seed to fryer.

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It has been an eventful twelve months for Austen. He has travelled to Anglesey, Largs, Glasgow, The Faroe Islands, Norway and even Dubai in the pursuit of the perfect chip.

So, where is his favourite fish and chip shop?

“Now that would be telling! I think some of it depends on what you are doing and where you are?,” he said.

“Coastal shops are always nice in the summer or winter sun, but destination shops are great too, as are the ones you deem ‘your local’.

“Much of it boils down to the quality of the ingredients they choose their craft and of course that all important chip from Cambridgeshire.”

Apart from fish and chips “which everyone should have once a week”, Austen extends his love of foods to takeaways and restaurants not serving the English staple.

“My favourite other takeaway or dine in is Indian,” he said.

I asked if he had tried the deep friend battered Brussels sprouts conjured up by the Jolly Fryer in Wisbech.

“Not tried the battered Brussel sprouts but have enjoyed a deep friend Mars bar,” he said.

“And I also had my first Irn-Bru too in 2024 – made with girders!”

SCOTS/ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

“Made in Scotland from girders” was the advertising slogan for Irn-Bru in the 1980s. The slogan refers to the drink’s iron content, which comes from ammonium ferric citrate, a food additive that contains iron hydroxide. However, the exact ingredients of Irn-Bru are a closely guarded secret, so it’s not confirmed that the drink actually contains girders.