Uh oh.
As I boarded my bus chariot for the evening, I realised that I might have come slightly underprepared on the food supplies front. The journey ahead would normally take an hour and a half or less, but the weather and traffic were abysmal. My chariot driver told me that the same journey the day before have taken him a ghastly 7 and a half hours. Testament to the fact that we Irish cannot handle snow at all. Anything more than a brief flurry and the country grinds to a halt.
Perhaps I should have taken one of these?
I should tell you now that I am one of those types that get quite cranky without frequent food injections. Food o’clock is round the clock in my world. Know also that the sum total of my food supplies for the journey amounted to 2 kiwi fruit and half a slice of banana bread. I would have to introduce rationing in case the journey turned into anything like the marathon of the day before, which, judging by the conditions, it looked like it might.
Thus, as the chariot sat immobile in traffic and I sensed the onset of where’s-my-dinner hunger pangs, I allowed myself the first kiwi fruit. My mind, however, was on an entirely different food journey, as it began to fixate on what it was that I really wanted to eat. It was an idea that had been planted during a lunchtime conversation. Right then, right there, what I wanted was a chip butty. Junk food par excellence. The ultimate cholesterol hit. A sandwich of white batch bread, thickly buttered and occupied by thickly-cut chips. Not french fries, but chips, thick oblongs of potato, deep-fried, well salted and well vinegared. Not the kind I would make for myself but the kind that that come from a proper chipper (for the uninitiated, that translates as fish-and-chip shop). I comforted myself with the last morsel of banana bread, which was nice (well, very nice, and I’ll post about that later) but right at that moment, it suffered greatly from the fact that it wasn’t a chip butty.
In the end, I didn’t even have to resort ot the second kiwi fruit. After 2 and a half hours, I was deposited at my destination and I arrived to find dinner-in-waiting, which included my beloved crash hot potatoes with butter, and a fresh loaf of batch bread on the counter. Not exactly the makings of a chip butty, but pretty damn close, pretty damn close indeed! To round it all off, I found that this here spud had merited inclusion in the longlists for the Irish Blog Awards and also got a nice mention over at CheapEats.ie. No chip butties, mind, but terribly nice all the same.
Who knew I’d have such fun reading a post about being stuck in inclement-weather traffic? If I’m not fed on a regular basis, too, the most unfortunate (for those around me) transformation takes place: I become a starts-with-a-B-and-ends-with-an-itch. Thanks goodness you were provisioned but now you’ve started something – I want a chip butty, too!
And my most effusive congratulations to you on your advancement in the Irish Blog Awards! I’ll be rooting for you from Minnesota where snow is just a state of mind – crazy!
This chip butty is a new and fabulous sounding sammie. Fries on bread with sauce. Mmmmm. Congrats to you for getting into the Irish Blog Awards list!
See now–this is why I like coming over here and getting my Irish hit for the day. Planks of fried, vinegary potatoes on bread?! This is genius! Yeah, and a kiwi pretty much pales in comparison :D
Congrats on your award noms. I will now mosey over there and vote, as long as they aren’t checking passports!
Tangled Noodle: thanks! I know myself well enough that I usually have some food on hand somewhere, but sometimes plans go awry and the result ain’t pleasant :) And as for the chip butty – maybe I’ll start a new craze…
Duo Dishes: the chip butty is a classic over here and in the UK – you probably don’t want to be eating them every day, but sometimes, they’re just the thing
Jenni: yeah, genius alright – the simple things often are :) As for the awardy thingy, there’s no external voting, just some mystery set of judges (and I suspect no amount of passport brandishing will sway them, but you can always try!)
My husband is in Dublin right now and I heard from him briefly yesterday and he said it was snowing and everyone was getting stuck in traffic. Haven’t heard from him today yet. Wonder what he is eating. The chip butty sounds good :)
Well, perhaps he’s dining on some kind of potatoes (if not an actual chip butty :)) I hope he’s not having to deal with traffic too much, because it’s been pretty horrendous (not as bad today as earlier in the week though) – we are really not equipped for snow at all!
One of my greatest fears is being stuck somewhere without something to munch on! In high school I used to add chips – the thin crunchy kind – to my sandwiches to try and revive how soggy the sandwich had gotten by lunch time. This chip butty sounds divine…I’ve been known to spread ketchup and mayo in pita and stuff it with home fries. Might sound a little off, but it is so good!
that chip butty…yum
thanks for stopping by my place..hope i will see u more often.:)
Nice to “meet” you Aoife. I’ve never heard of a Chip Butty but man, it does sound good in one of those “oh I know this is sooooo bad for me, but it is sooooo good” sort of ways.
gastroanthropologist: potato crisps in sandwiches is another childhood (and occasionally adult) favourite of mine – and I think your pita+fries combination is exactly what the chip butty is all about!
Navita: yum indeed :)
Joie de Vivre: …or should I say Amanda :) Chip butties are indeed very good in exactly the way you describe!
Althought I’ve never had one before, I think the chip butty may be my new favourite sandwich. You just can’t go wrong with that kind carb on carb action (not to mention the butter in between).
Congrats on all your recognition! That is wonderful! This chip butty sounds incredibly interesting. Oh, how I love chips, they hardly resemble our standard French fry. There is just no comparison. What I dislike more is when restaurants in the states try to pass fries as chips. It should be illegal!
Thanks for sharing those sites too. I’m so glad to have more Irish food blogs to explore. Our recent yearly trips to Ireland have me so captivated by Irish foods and cooking. I love it!
When I make chip butty here, my friends just laugh at me as it’s not very prefered to put chips in bread. I think they are afraid of gaining weight. But I love it.
Congrats on Irish Blog Award!
Marc: yep, can’t go wrong at all with that kind of carb-on-carb action…
Lori: thanks! and you’re right, there is indeed a world of difference between real chips and french fries – maybe those restaurants should be subject to some kind of trade descriptions act in that respect
zerrin: it’s one of those “I shouldn’t, but I’m going to” kind of foods alright!