Cracking idea which has oozed success for deli

AFAMILY in Newcastle is running a deli with a difference, with a business solely dedicated to serving up mouth-watering gourmet Scotch eggs.

The idea for The Yolker began when Kelvin Linstead from Lemington began to notice a pattern at his other business, Maximo’s Deli.

Opened in 2017 and named after Kelvin’s son, the family-run deli offers the whole works from pies to pastries, but it was always their Scotch eggs that flew off the shelves.

Noticing that the deli’s Scotch eggs were particularly popular with customers, Kelvin, 39, and his family decided just before the first Covid-19 lockdown to launch a separate Scotch egg business.

Things skyrocketed as soon as The Yolker was born, with the small team suddenly going from making around 10 Scotch eggs a week to 2,000.

“It’s a nightmare peeling that many eggs,” Kelvin laughs. “I think that’s the worst part of the job.”

And painstakingly peeling the shells from hundreds of eggs each day is just one part of the process the team cooks the eggs in batches of just 15 at a time, to make sure the temperature stays just right for the yolk to ooze.

The whole family are involved in churning out The Yolker’s unique products - Kelvin’s wife Kelly and his little brother Jack are on egg-making duty, while his parents assist with deliveries and family friends also help dish up the eggs in the kitchen.

Keeping it in the family gives the eggs a special something that you won’t find in mass-produced supermarket versions, Kelvin promises. The Yolker team always strives to use the best quality ingredients, and are always on the lookout for fresh flavour ideas.

The name of each Scotch egg on the menu at The Yolker is derived from iconic films - an idea inspired by Kelvin’s dad, whose name is also Kelvin. An avid collector of movie memorabilia, Kelvin Snr will regularly call up his son with name ideas for new egg-based creations.

Highlights include ‘Close Encounters of the Bacon Rind’ made with smoked bacon and cheddar, ‘The Yolks Who Stare At Goats’ featuring beetroot, goats cheese and chive, and ‘The Mangolorian’ with pork and spiced mango chutney. A Christmas special on the menu last year was the Die Hard-inspired ‘Yippee Ki Yay Mother-Clucker’, with a festive turkey, cranberry and stuffing filling.

The Yolker currently has nine different Scotch egg flavours on the menu, which changes constantly as Kelvin and the team cook up new creations.

Fenwick’s in Newcastle city centre stocks the eggs in their food hall, and they make regular appearances at the region’s markets from the Quayside to Jesmond. Several popular restaurants and pubs also stock them.

They can be found all over the region, from Gosforth and North Shields to further afield in Morpeth and Sunderland. And with delivery offered via The Yolker’s website and catering to weddings and events, the eggs end up all over the UK.

But as far as they may go, the eggs will always be available at Maximo’s Deli where it all started. Kelvin says that while he has hopes to expand The Yolker with bigger premises in the future, the business will always have family at its heart.