Food vs Art.

I would like to get an e-mail

From a lady in Peru

Saying ‘come and see my etchings,

For I etched them just for you.’

‘Please excuse me,’ I’d make answer

All a-drooling at the lips,

‘But I’m off down to the chippy

For to get some cod and chips.’

‘But my etchings are much nicer

Than your stupid chippy things.

You poor English are so blinded

To the joy an etching brings.’

‘Oh I know, my bold Latino,

And your offer is quite fetching,

But our stomachs pluck our heart strings

And you cannot eat an etching.’

I think I should point out for the sake for those not well versed in traditional British culture that cod and chips holds an important position in our national psyche. It represents all that is simple, wholesome, charming and comforting. In the old industrial areas, nobody was ever more than a hundred yards from a chippy, and the cold, clammy fog of a winter's night held little ground against the enduring and endearing scent of cod and chips filling the air and dissipating the chill.