If you take the A90 North, up the East coast of Aberdeenshire, you’ll eventually come to the picturesque little village of Stonehaven. A lovely little place, with a coved beach and picture postcard little harbour. Stonehaven has a number of claims to fame. It was the birthplace of Robert William Thomson, the inventor of the pneumatic tyre and the fountain pen, and its famous historical visitors have included William Wallace, Mary, Queen of Scots and Robert Burns. However, should you feel a little peckish… you might just want to check out The Carron Fish Bar, formerly The Haven on Bridgefield. Birthplace of the World Famous Deep Fried Mars Bar.

We asked the staff how such a thing occurred, and with the exasperated sigh, of someone whose obviously recounted the tale a few times before, the story unfolded …apparently back in 1995, the little chipper had a seating area near the front windows, with the fryers set back in the shop. It was a popular hang out with local school kids, who would come in, with their friends, filling the place with banter… but not necessarily spending any cash… much to the owner’s annoyance. And so a new rule was introduced. The seats were only to be used by customers eating food cooked on the premises. Of course the chipper also sold the usual selection of sweets and cans of pop, common to most chip shops and all it took was one young chap, to figure that practically the cheapest thing in the shop was a chocolate bar, so asked the owner to stick one in his deep fat fryer, his mates followed suit… and the rest as they say, is history. Nowadays, of course, battered and deep fried confectionary, though still a niche market, is pretty common, with everything from crème eggs to curly wurlys finding their way into the bubbling vats of oil. But… if you want “an original”, you’ll have to head to Stonehaven… we did and the verdict?… actually not that bad!

Associated posts: Stonehaven Fireball Festival: http://thenorthernline.com/2009/10/21/burn-baby-burn

By Dave on May 20, 2010