Principal Cafe Perfects The Ultimate Batter With Ceres

Just a few miles from where Eddie Thompson first learned his trade is The Principal Cafe, the fish and chips takeaway he took over just two years ago. Situated in the small town of Galston, near Kilmarnock, it’s a step he wishes he had taken sooner.

“I started as a potato boy,” Eddie laughs, remembering his early days in the trade. “Peeling potatoes, prepping fish, that kind of thing. The shop was called The Plaice to Be, it was an award-winning shop, and one day the boss asked if I wanted to move up and start frying.”

After his mentor retired, Eddie moved between shops before returning to the one where he got his start, then under new ownership. He stayed for five years, but when the lease ran out, he, his wife, daughter, and son all found themselves suddenly out of work.

“We were all unemployed, just like that,” he says. “That’s when we decided to go for it ourselves. I had 18 years of experience, but it was my wife who gave us the push to take the leap.”

They found the perfect location just six miles from Eddie’s old job. “A lot of customers followed us here, which was amazing,” he says. But just 16 weeks after opening, disaster struck when a pan fire destroyed their frying range, shutting them down for four weeks.

Rather than waste that time, Eddie threw himself into learning. “It was a low moment,” he admits. “But I told myself we’d turn it around.” He trained at the KFE School of Frying Excellence in Peterborough and reviewed every product he used, from sausages to haggis to black pudding, sourcing them from a trusted local butcher.

“It made us stronger,” says Eddie. “I realised how much more we could do, especially regarding sustainability. We changed suppliers, started using MSC certified haddock, and now I’m working closely with our potato supplier to source Red Tractor potatoes.”

This drive for improvement eventually led Eddie to something he’d long dreamed of - developing the perfect batter mix.

“I’d always wanted my own batter, but didn’t know how to go about it,” says Eddie. “I was taking part in a cook-off for Best Frier at The Scottish Fish & Chip Awards, and I saw all these people using three or four different flours, mixing them up on the spot. It never sat right with me, all those additives and preservatives. I decided I needed to push for a bespoke batter that was all natural and one that worked for my needs.”

After eight months of experimenting with different recipes with other companies, Eddie received a timely call from Stelios, MD at Ceres. “He understood what we wanted straight away,” Eddie says. “He sent me two samples, and within three weeks we were up and running. I couldn’t believe it. It was exactly what I’d been looking for.”

The result is a golden, pepper-seasoned, light and crispy batter with a unique taste and free from additives or preservatives. More importantly, it has brought a new level of consistency to the business, as Eddie explains: “What a difference it's made. Before, I was mixing flours and different ingredients, and nobody else could do it. Now, anyone can make up the batter because it’s all premixed. I can say to my daughter or my son, ‘Go make the batter,’ and they can. I’ll put it through the ceres flow cup to my time of 20 seconds, and it’s the perfect consistency every time.”

The Principal Cafe is very much a family business. Eddie’s wife has tasked herself with the job of reducing food waste by using off-cuts to create homemade fish fingers. Their daughter Abi runs the front of house and keeps things moving smoothly, while their 19-year-old son Josh, who started working in fish and chip shops at age 10, is preparing to enter the Drywite Young Fish Frier of the Year competition.

The takeaway is housed in a building with over 100 years of history, originally opened in 1918 by an Italian family. “We’ve got photos of the original owners and a little book behind the counter about the shop’s past,” says Eddie. “It’s special to carry that tradition forward after so many years.”

With a host of awards already under their belt, including Best Chippy in Ayrshire and Best Newcomer, they’re now finalists in the Good Food Awards, where they are up against some big players, including The Fish Works in Largs and Anstruther Fish Bar in Anstruther. But for Eddie, it’s not all about trophies.

“It’s nice to win, but the real focus is on consistency and quality,” he says. “That’s what keeps customers coming back. People are now travelling 20 or 30 miles just for our food, and they’re becoming regulars.”

Pleased with what he’s achieved in just two years, Eddie is most proud of the uniqueness of Principal Cafe and the quality of its products.

“Up here, most fish and chip shops use the same supplier,” he explains. “So they all end up selling the same puddings and sausages. That just didn’t sit right with me. I wanted to be different.

“I can’t fault any of my products. We use MSC certified fish, all our meat is locally sourced, and now I’ve got my bespoke batter mix that I have total control of. I’ve got faith in everything we serve, and that’s why we only get good reviews.”