IT’S COUNTDOWN to Tuesday for Luton fish frier Antonios Tsiampartas.
That’s when he’ll know whether the family business, Wigmore Fish & Chips, has been crowned Independent Fish & Chip Shop of the Year 2012.
Beaming broadly, 24-year-old Antonios claims he is “confident-ish” about the outcome.
“We want to put Luton on the map,” he said.
The business was one of 10 regional winners in the competition, organised by Seafish.
Part of the prize was an educational three-day trip to Alesund in Norway, the capital of the white fish industry in the Barents Sea.
Antonios said: “The boats are worth £25 million each and they go out for a month at a time.
“We use ‘frozen at sea’ fish. It’s caught, cleaned and frozen within four hours – you can’t get fresher than that.
“Their technology is unbelievable, they’re very ahead of the times. It was a really good experience to learn how it happens.”
He’s keen to get the message across that fish and chips, cooked correctly, is a healthy diet option – high in protein and fibre and low in fat.