Real Food Café Fry, Taste & Review Babylon Chips
As finalists of the National Federation of Fish Fryers Fish and Chip Awards, The Definitive Awards for Fish and Chips, we are confident to say we know a thing or two about making great chips.
Our Cafe is the only Scottish chippy among the three finalists in the Field to Frier category. This category recognises fish and chip shops from around the UK, for their excellence in potato knowledge, care and chip preparation, and is being sponsored by leading potato supplier, Isle of Ely Produce and their new variety of chipping potatoes called Babylon.
In November 2022 we were given two bags of the Babylon chips and were asked to cook them to perfection and review their colour, texture and taste by Austen Dark from the Chippy Chat magazine. A task we didn't take lightly and one we approached with enthusiasm. Thanks to our nearly 20 years of chip frying experience, we quickly found the best temperature and cooking time to fry these chips to perfection.
We shared our findings with Austen and you can read what we said in the below article by Austen Dack that was published in the Chippy Chat & Fast Food Magazine in December 2022. Or just watch the video which summarises the process on our social media.
Real Deal!
Real Food Cafe Fry Babylon!
by Austen dack
Isle of Ely Produce have been promoting a Chip Ambassador role to promote the great British Chip in association with Agrico. The aim will be to carry on their good work promoting chipping potatoes at their hugely successful open days and through their 'Field to Frier' National Fish & Chip Shop award which is co-sponsored by Babylon.
The Chip Ambassadors have become a part of an UK wide group of shop owners and fryers who will promote best practice for potato buying, storing and of course frying. The chain will also include key growers too like PJ Lee & Sons and A. L. Lee Farming Company, as IOE looks to nurture the relationships they have grown across the whole supply chain over the last thirty years.
Agrico have partnered with Isle of Ely Produce to bring a new variety into the trade initially via our Chip Ambassadors. The variety is called Babylon & is being chipped & fried at some of these ambassadors' shops to back up the results of early trial successes.
This month it was the turn of the multi award-winning Real Food Café in Tyndrum based in the highlands of Scotland. With approaching twenty years of experience this very special restaurant is a true trail blazer in our industry. In 2019 they were recommended in the 2019/20 Lonely Planet Guide, in 2020 they were crowned National Federation of Fish Fryers Quality Award Champion at the National Fish & Chip Awards. Their community litter picks have resulted in over 1 tonne of litter being collected by staff and volunteers. They also received a commendation from the Scottish Fire and Rescue service. This was for their support of team members who double as reserve firefighters, enabling the local fire station to stay operational.
Armed with some pre-cut Babylon, Malcolm Wood of the Real Fresh Chip Company drove a Babylon sample to Sarah Heward, the Real Food Café owner, for her to try. Malcolm sells fresh pre-cut fresh chips to shops across Scotland.
Once cooked and plated. Sarah, Mirela and Vladislava tucked into some Babylon chips. They were impressed by the fry colour crispy outside fluffy middle and consistent size of the sample. Sarah also said that they compared really well to their usual supply, and would definitely look out for Babylon as a variety for general use in the shop.
Oliver Boutwood Isle of Ely Director says: "It's good to hear a shop of their calibre like the all-round good characteristics of Babylon. We are really pleased with this partnership between Agrico IOE and chip shop owners."
Alex Moore Agrico UK Sales Manager said: "It is great to see Babylon frying well all over the UK. This is a very good fish and chip restaurant and we appreciate them trialing our variety and for their positive feedback too."
Chip shop owners already signed as Chip Ambassadors for Isle of Ely Produce include Colin Cromer - The Fish Hoose, Kerry Brennan - Golden Union, David Henley - Henley's. Richard Ord Jr - Colmans, Eric Snaith - Eric's, Kelly & Tim Barnes - Krispies, Lauren Kellaway - Kellaways, Charlie Collins - Frydales, Fred Capel- Chez Fred, Shap Chippy, Malachy Mallon The Dolphin Takeaway, Fish and Chips at Weston Grove, Emir Hikary - Hiks, Alan Shillingford - Shillingfords, Gregg Howard - The Chip Shed, Ian Wallis - Henry's Hunstanton, John Hudgell - Pimp my Fish, Mark Petrou - The Petrou Brothers, Marcus French - French's, Fishers of Hunstanton, Sarah Heward - The Real Food Café and more.
