Top food critics have been left baffled after a man made a bizarre claim about fish and chips.
The single comment, left beneath a food review, has sparked a huge debate online.
Grace Dent, who has a restaurant column in the Guardian and regularly appears on Masterchef, shared a man's response to her latest food review on Twitter.
The food critic asked her followers for reassurance after a man shared his bizarre theory about batter following her review of Angel Lane Chippie in Penrith, Cumbria.
Grace praised the fish shop for its "curly, firm fleshed" fish, which she pointed out is always "clogged" with extra globs of thick batter."
But one reader had a totally different opinion to batter in general, reports the Daily Star.
Sharing the tale on social media, she wrote: "This week's Guardian column is about a northern chip shop.
"This comment has kept me awake. I. I just. What."
So what was the comment in question?
Posting his take on batter, one man claimed: "The batter is there to protect the fish during frying, you peel it off, throw it away, then eat the fish!
"If you bake a fish (or indeed a vegetable) in a salt crust, do you eat that too?"
Hundreds waded in on the fact, with one TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp commenting: "If you throw away the batter what do you feed the children?"
Another added: That’s just ... it’s just... I don’t actually know what that is. This country is finished. We can’t even eat fish and chips properly anymore."
And while the majority were in a state of confusion over the claims, Grace had her doubts.
She later wrote: "But he's sure. He is so so sure. listen to him. ARE WE THE WRONG ONES?"
Others pointed out that the man's assertion was deep rooted in history and that over time the batter has become part of the meal.
One social media user wrote: "I think that is the origin of battered fish. The batter was just a cooking method, like a salt crust. Now it’s become an integral part of the meal."
Who knew!
