When Tony and Leon Manzi set up the Two Brothers fish and chip restaurant in Finchley, North London, more than 20 years ago, they’d barely fried a rock salmon between them. So they went to Grimsby for a three-day course bankrolled by Young’s, the fish company, designed to introduce existing and new chip shop owners to the best ways of doing business.
Leon recalls: “On the first day the lecturer asked: ‘How many of you change your fryer oil once a week?’ No hands went up. ‘And how about once a month?’ A couple of hands. ‘So, every three months?’ A few more hands rose. And then the lecturer said: ‘I never change mine at all! I just top it up.’ Once we’d heard that we knew going into this business would be a winner — there wasn’t any competition.”
The Manzis changed their oil daily and built up a thriving restaurant frequented by batter enthusiasts, including Jamie Oliver, Clement Freud and Warren Mitchell.
They sold out two years ago, but the Two Brothers is still second only to Sheekey’s in the firmament of London fish restaurants. But I would say that: Zoe, Leon’s daughter, is my fiancée. Now that Leon and Tony aren’t there we don’t go as often, so I got Leon to teach me my favourite recipe on the Two Brothers menu: Tony’s Arbroath Smokies.
Serves 2
Ingredients
Two Arbroath smokies, preferably cold smoked (or smoked mackerel for cheat’s version)
2 tomatoes
Strong Cheddar cheese
Double cream
Black pepper
Method
Take smokies off the bone and flake. Place in small, shallow ovenproof bowl. Grate a decent hit of strong Cheddar on top. On top of that spoon approx 1 tbsp of tomato concassée (this is the tomato flesh, no seeds and no skin, roughly chopped). Then douse with double cream, enough nearly to cover. Place under grill for 5 min until cheese is bubbling. Grind black pepper on top to taste. Serve.
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