/ 16 February 2005

Briton to make world’s biggest bag of chips

A British fish-and-chip-shop owner pledged on Wednesday to embark on a 12-hour cooking epic to make the world’s biggest bag of chips, claiming inspiration from another record-breaker, sailor Ellen MacArthur.

While MacArthur rewrote the record books with her solo circumnavigation of the world, Kelvin Baines aims to make his mark by frying 1 134kg of potatoes at the Chip Stop in Plymouth, south-west England.

”All I am doing is another record,” said Baines, likening his challenge to MacArthur’s.

”I couldn’t sail around the world, but she couldn’t cook a huge bag of chips,” he said.

Starting at 9am on Thursday, Baines expects to use 100 litres of oil, 15kg of salt, 30 litres of vinegar, 6 000 chip forks and 30 litres of tomato sauce.

The chips will be given away free, and the event will raise money for the Royal National Mission to Deep-Sea Fishermen.

The world chip-bag record is currently held by Alan Williamson, who cooked a 368,5kg bag of chips at Hereford racecourse during National Chip Week in Britain last year. — Sapa-AFP