Say whatever the McFish you want, you got to give McDonald’s credit for trying to capture a quota of fish and chip customers in Atlantic Canada this summer.
Whether customers will take the bait — particularly in Newfoundland and Labrador, where a good feed of fish and chips is revered — is something yet to be written in the log book.
McDonald’s Canada announced this week that from May 29 until Aug. 20 customers in Atlantic Canada will be able to order “a new, exclusive limited-time offer: the Fish and Chips Meal.”
A news release states it is the company’s take on a local favourite.
“We’re always proud to offer new menu items because we know how important it is to meet all of our guests’ wants and needs,” says Trevor Morris, a local franchisee of McDonald’s Canada. “With the Fish and Chips Meal, we’ve brought something unique to the table — not just made for Atlantic Canadians, but made by Atlantic Canadians.”
The new meal is described as a two-piece serving made with 100 per cent wild-caught Atlantic haddock.
“The fish is coated with a golden, crunchy batter and is served with McDonald’s world famous fries and tartar dipping sauce,” the release states.
Related: Russell Wangersky: For the love of cod
No matter how you dress it up, however, in Newfoundland and Labrador haddock is, well, haddock. Meaning it’s not cod. When it comes to fish and chips, cod is king. The majority of popular fish and chip restaurants in this province serve cod — many serve freshly caught cod — with their helping of home-made chips.
Vicki Barbour, spokesperson for Ches’s Famous Fish and Chips and granddaughter of company founder Ches Barbour, says that when the moratorium on northern cod was imposed in 1992, and in other areas of the province in 1993, cod was difficult to come by, so the company tried other types of fish in its fish and chips.
“Those were dark days without cod,” Barbour said. “As soon as we could get our hands on cod, we went right back to it.”
So, why do local fish and chip restaurants continue to have success?
In the case of Ches’s, Barbour said, it’s the pairing of quality with tradition — and cod.
“We’ve had 67 years to perfect what we do here,” she said. “My grandfather was Ches Barbour and we don’t do things all that differently in the preparation of the food than what he did. It’s still the freshest fish we can get our hands on, the best potatoes, the best fat we can fry it in, and a whole team of people committed to creating one product, which is fish and chips — though we have a big menu of lots of other things, but fish and chips is our big thing.”
Barbour said it is not only Ches’s where the tradition of going out for fish and chips was formed. She said many companies and restaurants throughout the province have done the same.
“It’s not just us. There are fish and chips restaurants in the province that have been around a long time and putting out a good product,” she said. “It doesn’t bother us if someone has a different local fish and chips spot they like to go to, because we know those people are as committed as we are to creating a good product. But what I think brings our customers back — and it is generational — you go to Ches’s when you are a kid and you keep coming back and bring your own children. So it’s a traditional thing.”
Fish and chips is so popular with many people in this province that it’s common to see travellers at the airport taking a meal of fish and chips away to friends or relatives living away.
“We often get people calling us who are heading to a plane and taking it away with them,” Barbour said.
So, it’s a rough local sea of cod the McDonald’s fish and chips boat is setting sail in with its hold full of haddock.
But, it is McDonald’s we are talking about after all. They serve close to three million customers in Canada every day. They have the Big Mac and the famous fries, and the Alaskan pollock-packed Filet-O-Fish meal has been as constant on the international chain’s menu, it seems, as long as the great big sea hove in Long Beach.
The tide seems to move in their favour. And McDonald’s is a tradition with Canadian families in its own right.
“We’re sure all Canadians would be interested in trying the Fish and Chips Meal,” says Nikki Zamparo, supply chain manager for McDonald’s Canada. “This meal is limited to Atlantic Canada, as the fish is locally sourced.
“We know that fish and chips has always been a classic dish in the Atlantic region. With a lot of classic dishes, obviously, there’s different variations that people know and love, and so with this offering, really, what McDonalds is trying to do is draw inspiration from those traditional local foods and present our take on a classic favourite.”
During the time period the fish and chips meal is offered, McDonald’s expects to order about 32,400 pounds of Atlantic haddock, to be supplied by High Liner Foods out of Lunenburg, N.S.