A well-known Fife fish and chip shop has unveiled a new fish and chips flavoured ice cream, blending two of its best-selling offerings in a bold attempt to raise awareness of its in-house ice cream production.
Anstruther Fish Bar, in the coastal town of Anstruther, launched the flavour to showcase its often-overlooked ice cream operation, which now includes over 75 varieties, all made on site using locally sourced ingredients.
Owner Walker Murray commented: “The whole reason that we’ve done this is that we are very well known for our fish and chips but we also make our own ice cream on site and a lot of people, including the population of Anstruther itself, thought we bought it in.
“I thought, we need some kind of marketing method of making sure people know the ice cream we serve, which is very good and very popular, is handmade on-site. What better way to do this than actually combine our two fantastic products and, okay, yes it is a little bit crazy.”
The new flavour is made by infusing a traditional cream base with actual servings of the shop’s own fish suppers and a sprinkling of batter scraps.
“We’ve used our own fish and chips to make this flavour,” explained Walker. “So we cooked our fish suppers and we put it in with the base to help infuse the flavour. It’s got a hint of fish, but it’s more the saltiness of a chip that you get with the sweetness of ice cream at the same time. It’s really surprising how well it works.”
What began as an experiment in small two-litre test batches is now selling between five to ten litres a day.
“We had a lot of fun testing this product and a lot of strange faces when we were telling them what they were going to test. Some people just point blank refused, but after a little peer pressure they would say, ‘It’s quite good, you need to try it’.”
Anstruther Fish Bar has long been committed to sourcing locally, from the fish and potatoes in its meals to the milk and cream in its ice cream. “The love and effort we put in our fish and chips is the same love and effort that we are putting into the manufacturing of our ice cream,” said Walker.
In addition to the fish and chips flavour, other unique offerings include a haggis ice cream, and the unexpectedly popular “seagull poo”.
“It’s basically ice cream with a yellow hint of flavouring, which is similar to the inside of a Cadbury Creme Egg through it,” said Walker. “The kids have gone absolutely crazy for it. We normally sell one liner – so about four litres – of our mint choc chip a day. We’re now selling four liners of ‘Seagull Poo’ in a day. It’s like the whole school came and wanted it. Honestly, we cannot make it quickly enough.”
