TV Personality James May Attempts to Improve Fish and Chips With His Own Gin

James May attempts a gin twist on classically British fish and chips. (Photo: What’s Next?/YouTube)

Can Britain’s favorite dish of fish and chips be elevated with one of Britain’s favorite spirits? Television Presenter James May sought to answer this amusing question with a bottle of his Asian parsnip gin.

In a video titled “Can James May Improve Fish & Chips With Alcohol?” May hosts a segment called “Cooking With Gin” in which he, you guessed it, cooks with gin.

Any passionate gin drinker would be delighted to see their favorite spirit broadening its horizons, but the fish and chips diehard might firmly disapprove.

Fish and chips is traditionally made with deep-fried fish fillet, a bed of crispy chips, tarter sauce and mushy peas. Beer is frequently used as a favorite fish batter ingredient, providing both added flavor and a golden hue to the fried fish.

What happens when beer is replaced with May’s gin?

First, May noted how expensive the ingredient swap was as his gin was poured into the batter. Priced at £39.00 (43.45) a bottle, a healthy dose of James Gin would result in a high-priced fish dish.

The gin-battered fish is deep fried as May chats about chips. (Photo: What’s Next?/YouTube)

After frying up the gin-battered fish and giving it a sample, the results are in. It’s lightly colored, just as crispy as a beer-battered fish and… only tastes a little like gin. May mentioned how his parsnip gin could be detected at the end with an “astringent,” “slightly drier flavor.”

Two other tasters said they couldn’t taste the gin at all, but the final consensus was that the fish was delicious — even if it was not completely transformed by gin.

So there you have it. Fish and chips haven’t been notably improved with gin, but it still makes for a tasty and fun meal!

If you’re interested in May’s gin, bottles can be found for purchase here.

Here at Gin Raiders, we do more than write about current events in gin. We are the only media property reviewing gins and aggregating the scores and reviews of other significant voices in the gin world in one place. If you’re interested in getting a shot of gin in your morning email, sign up for our Deal of the Day newsletter.