Baz Gould could well be considered the mad scientist of butteries.
In his previous career as a chef, the 43-year-old invented mind-boggling mashups such as chicken curry rowies, bacon and cheese rowies and Trinidadian hot sauce rowies.
And though these days the delivery driver is as likely to be holding a steering wheel as a wooden spoon, he continues to push the boundaries of buttery creativity.
His latest Easter-themed Cadbury’s Cream Egg butteries landed with a bump at the Press and Journal this week, bringing the office to a virtual standstill.
Me and My Buttery caught up with Baz to find out more.
Baz, great to speak to you. And thanks for sending through your new recipe. What’s the occasion?
My sister Lesley just moved back to Aberdeenshire to start up a dog grooming business. We were talking about Creme Eggs and she asked if I could make a rowie out of them. I wasn’t sure – Creme Eggs have a lot of sugar in them. But she dared me to do it. Then I thought I could use them to give her a bit of publicity.
It worked a treat! You’ve got history with making unusual butteries, right?
I used to be a chef and I was always experimenting, especially when I worked at the Milton Brasserie in Crathes a good decade ago now. When we were quiet, we’d be messing about with recipes, so much so that the guy that owned the restaurant started taking them to his other work in oil and gas for people to try.
What kind of recipes?
All sorts of weird concoctions like chicken curry.
Wait, what?
Yeah. And haggis was one of them.
A chicken curry buttery? How does that work?
Well, it’s a bit of trade secret. You start with a traditional buttery recipe. Then you add a dry mix with cooked chicken and curry and whatever herbs and spices you want.
How did that go down?
Very well, actually. A while back I did some rowies with Angus & Oink, a hot sauce maker (in Aboyne). They have Voodoo Mango, which is a Trinidadian-style hot sauce. That was funny, watching people’s faces when they tried that one. It was quite hot, with a slow burn.
What else?
I did a Marmite one as well once. Some people liked it, some didn’t.
Butteries seem really versatile.
They’re just regarded as a thing up here, but a buttery can lend itself to anything. It’s the croissant of the north-east.
Do you think they should be treated with more respect?
I think so. There are a lot of bad ones out there – some awful ones. But if we could up the quality a wee bit and get them some prestige it would be something to celebrate instead of malign.
Any thoughts on what you can come up with next?
The possibilities are as wide as your imagination. We tried lots of things back then. Duck confit, black pudding.
Any recipes that didn’t work?
The black pudding one wasn’t great.
And finally, the question we always ask: how do you eat your buttery?
Warm with butter. And maybe some marmalade.
