‘TODAY’S news is tomorrow’s fish and chip paper’ has never rung truer than in the case of Gary Tideswell, a former newspaperman who now lays claim to “the best fish and chips around” after launching roaming food truck, Mossley & Bow’s Famous Fish & Chips earlier this year.

Andy, who “hooked up” with old friend Harry Maltby to launch their new venture in April, had worked for decades in newspapers and magazines – meeting Harry during in his time as a commercial manager at the Middle East’s biggest newspaper, Gulf News, in Dubai.

But food, and feeding people, is both Andy and Harry’s true love and after a few aborted dabbles in the street food market – and with travelling for work made impossible during last year’s lockdowns – like many, it took the jolt of a global pandemic to push the pair to chase their foodie dream full-time.

“I’ve worked in media for a long, long time,” said Andy. “Newspapers and magazines are my background. But I’ve always been a real foodie. And so has my business partner.

“I’m nearly 50. And when the pandemic came, I couldn’t travel like I was doing. So I thought ‘well, no better time than now’. So I built the truck myself.

“At my stage of life you want to be doing something that you love, and feeding people is something that has always been a passion of mine. It’s hard work but it’s good fun!”

Andy added they have undertaken a “hell of a lot of research” to source the most sustainable cod available, eventually settling on a supplier called Sea Quality.

“It’s all MSC-certified Norwegian cod, who are at the forefront of sustainability,” he said. “We genuinely don’t think we can go any more sustainable than we’re doing at the moment. And the quality is amazing as well.”

Mossley & Bow – named in honour of Britain’s first fish and chip shops in Mossley, Lancashire, and in Bow, London – also serve “the best scampi we could find”, said Andy, as well as whitebait, calamari and prawns. It also has plans to offer vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options.

“We pride ourselves on quality and didn’t just want to offer another chippy-style fish and chips,” said Andy. “We wanted to position ourselves a little bit higher.”

They also take a scientific approach to their chips – sourcing the “very, very best” ‘Markies’ variety of potatoes going and subscribing to Heston Blumenthal’s ‘triple-cooked’ approach.

This begins early every morning with Harry blanching the spuds, which are then cooled and later deep fried at 130 °C and cooled again, before a final deep frying at 180 °C to give them a glass-like crust and a soft, fluffy centre.

And in their quest for fish and chip perfection, Andy and Harry also make their own tartar sauce, curry sauce and mushy peas from scratch.

“We’ve tasted them all,” Andy added, “and we just didn’t want the same stuff all the other fish and chip shops had so we’ve gone to town!”

Mossley & Bow currently pitches up at four locations weekly: Mondays and Thursdays at Hale Road, Farnham; Wednesdays at The Butts, Alton; Fridays at The Running Stream, Weybourne; and Saturday’s at Newlyn’s Farm Shop, North Warnborough.

See their website https://order.mossleyandbow.co.uk and Facebook page for the latest info on stopping points.

Andy continued: “We really do believe we’ve got the best fish and chips in the area.”

* Mossley & Bow is offering all Herald readers 20 per cent off their orders (minimum spend £10) by using the code Herald20 online at https://order.mossleyandbow.co.uk OR by showing the voucher on Page 24 of this week’s Herald on collection between August 16 and 21.

And it gets better, as ALL redeemed vouchers will also be entered into a draw to win a free fish and chip dinner up to a value of £50.

Simply buy a copy of this week’s Herald and hand in your completed voucher to enter. Good luck!