The Chippie Hut van will be ‘packed as full as possible’ to serve hungry fairgoers
“We honestly don’t know what to expect”. These are the words of a Withernsea couple who have learned they will be the first to serve fish and chips at Hull Fair.
Bob Carver’s famous chippy stand at the fair, which opens in the city tonight (Friday, October 10), has a long-standing tradition of serving patties, chips and peas. Respecting that classic fair food offering, Rico and Jade Verrecchia will not have patties on their menu when they debut their Chippie Hut van in Walton Street.
They will be following their own tradition of serving up freshly-fried haddock and chips, which their Golden Haddock shop in Withernsea has become renowned for, during all of the fair’s opening hours, and will be doing their utmost to keep up with demand. “We honestly don’t know what to expect,” said mum-of-two Jade.
“Hull Fair said we are the first ever fish and chip sellers; we didn’t know that. We’re making history and it’s really exciting.”
Rico’s father and uncle first set up the Golden Haddock in 1988, on Valentine’s Day. The resort’s love of the fish shop has continued until today, with Rico having taken over in 2021. “We have some really loyal customers,” said Jade.
“My husband wanted to expand the business, to see what we could do with it. It wasn’t possible to open up a restaurant in Withernsea which is why we bought The Chippie Hut van in May of this year and started going round the local villages.”
The Chippie Hut is already being set up by Rico at Walton Street, ready for its first customers. “There will be two servers working and Rico doing all the frying – I’ll be working on Friday and Wednesday,” said Jade.
“Each server can have 250 trays set up in front of them. If we get through that in one go, then that will be a bit mad.
“We talked to some of the showmen yesterday and they said the first two nights are unbelievable, just insane. Then it gets a bit quieter for a few days.”
Jade said: “It’s big news for Withernsea. We’re both Withernsea born and bred and went to school with each other.
“Rico will be packing the van as full as possible – our fresh fish will be prepped on the morning of each day. It’s just haddock as we have only ever done haddock at the Golden Haddock – we did trial cod for a while but it didn’t sell as well and after Brexit the prices went up.”
The Chippie Hut will be serving haddock and chips, sausage and chips or just chips, with the option of mushy peas. “The size of the fish will be a bit larger than a small,” said Jade.
“We didn’t want to go too big because we didn’t want customers to be too full. We know how they like to go off and try different things at the fair.”
Fish and chips will cost £10, with The Chippie Hut taking cash or card. “We would prefer cash, because it’s quicker and easier,” said Jade.
“If there’s a lot going on with the internet at the fair, it could make things slower for people.” The couple are delighted about the central position they have been given for the fair – “we’re at the entrance where the helter-skelter will be”.
Jade said: “An unbelievable amount of effort has gone into the setting up of all of this. It’s been months.
“Rico has made so many different changes to the van, just for Hull Fair. He has bought things, just for Hull Fair.
“He has made so much effort towards this. I am so proud of him.”
Jade said: “We’ve got our parents looking after the children when I’ll be at the van, but I’ll probably bring them to the fair on Tuesday afternoon when it’s not so busy. My daughter who’s the eldest is three in December and she’d go on a rollercoaster if she could.”
The Verrecchias would love to take The Chippie Hut van to more events. “We did the Blue Light Weekend at Withernsea and we’re hoping to do weddings – we went to one last month.”
Save £20 on rides at Hull Fair
Fairgoers can once again get money-off vouchers to save 50p on participating rides – a fantastic saving of up to £20 can be had! Simply purchase your Hull Daily Mail each day until Thursday, October 16 to find your page of vouchers.
Terms and Conditions apply: Vouchers are valid any day until 6.30pm (closed Sunday). Redeemable at participating rides only. One voucher per ride. Copies of print vouchers will not be accepted.