Here's where you can get giant battered pigs in blankets from a Sheffield fish and chips business this Christmas

Smith’s Fish and Chips, a mobile venture based in Attercliffe, is serving giant battered pigs in blankets at its regular pitches throughout December.

Owner Kyle Smith said the new menu item had been popular with customers seeking a seasonal departure from traditional fare like cod and haddock.

“We've been doing them as a little Christmas special,” said Kyle.

“A few people pull their faces when you tell them about it, but everyone who tries them enjoys them.”

The £3 delicacy isn’t a miniature chipolata, either – at its core is a ‘proper chip shop pork sausage’, Kyle is proud to declare.

Each sausage is wrapped with two pieces of streaky bacon, then coated in batter and fried for 10 to 15 minutes.

“We tried smoked bacon, but it tastes much better with normal streaky bacon,” Kyle said.

“We did them at a Christmas fair in Wentworth about two years ago but we didn't put them on the regular menu. This year we were trying to think of something Christmassy to do, so we thought we'd stick them on.

“It's one of my favourites. They're really tasty when they've been sitting in the heat box for about an hour and the bacon goes extra crispy.”

Kyle has been running his business for just under three years, and while 2020 has been tough for firms that rely on events – “We do weddings, birthdays and whatnot and we go out to campsites as well at Clumber Park and Hope,” he said – trade has held up despite the pandemic.

“We're just getting through, we've been alright,” said Kyle, who is taking his deep fat fryer-equipped 18ft box trailer to a rota of pubs in North East Derbyshire, including the Rose & Crown in Eckington on Tuesdays and Fridays. “We've had a lot of support from the villages we go to, we can't thank them enough for the custom. My wife helps a lot, and my little brother.”

Now he is trying to think of other imaginative foods to batter.

“We tried black pudding, but that wasn't for me,” said Kyle.

See https://www.facebook.com/smithsmobilefishandchips for more information.

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