In just over a year, 21-year-old Abby Barker has gone from running a pub kitchen to mastering fish frying techniques at Millers of Haxby in York
I’ve been at Millers for just over a year now. Before this, I ran a pub kitchen and had some experience with frying, so I went straight into learning how we fry fish here.
Working on a proper frying range was a big change for me. The pans are much larger and deeper than the tabletop fryers I was used to. And the difference in power and the volume of food we can handle here is incredible!
On the frying side, I’ve learned so many new techniques. For example, laying the fish into the oil without leaving finger marks – letting go gently instead of dragging your hand off makes all the difference in keeping the batter intact. Timing is key too. You can’t rush and risk the batter blowing off, but you also can’t go too slow or the batter won’t stick properly. It’s all about finding that perfect technique.
Recently, I’ve been more involved in purchasing and tracking stock levels. This helps us ensure that stock is moving and that money isn’t just sitting on the shelves.
Over Christmas, I had the opportunity to work at the pop-up in The Shambles Food Market in York. It’s a completely different setup compared to Haxby, being a street food market, and it’s taught me how to adapt to different environments and serving different products while achieving the same end result. It’s always nice to return to our base in Haxby, though, because I get to see how everything I’ve learned ties together.
For example, at The Shambles, we were pre-dusting the fish rather than drying it off, which is more practical in the smaller space and helps maintain the quality of the oil. But at Haxby, we have more space so drying it first works better.
Since being at Millers and getting involved in the Drywite Young Fish Frier of the Year competition this year, I’ve had the chance to go on amazing trips to learn more about the industry. On a recent one to Billingsgate Fish Market, I saw how the fish arrives at the market and I even filleted some myself. Similarly, we visited Isle of Ely to learn about potatoes – meeting the farmers, seeing the fields, and understanding the entire process from harvest to frying. These experiences have given me not just knowledge, but an appreciation for the effort behind the ingredients we use. They’ve also helped me understand things like pricing and why it fluctuates.
Something I’ve come to value is meeting so many skilled people along the way. Everyone has their little tricks and techniques which, even if I don’t use immediately, I know they’ll come in handy someday.
I’ve been so impressed with how supportive the fish and chip industry is. Being able to drop someone an e-mail or message if you’ve got a question or need some advice and knowing they are there and that they want to help you is something else. It’s just a great industry to be in.
