The Rowie (also known as the Aberdeen Rowie or a buttery by many of the local populous) is an interesting exercise if nothing else.

The best description of a rowie was possibly by a baker I visited who described it as 25% salt and 85% lard with a sprinkling of flour for good measure.

Physically a rowie is around 10mm to at most 15 mm deep and around 50mm in diameter in a rough uneven round shape. The texture is unusual the side which is on the plate during baking has a fairly flat and smooth surface where as the other side has this very rugged and quite flaky quality.

Rowies originated during the fishing boom of Early Aberdeen as they provided a vast amount of energy and tended not to fall apart as easily as other bread.

A traditional source of income for many bakers in Aberdeen itself the recipe has however escaped the confines of the Granite city and many places in Scotland now sell Butteries, the term of Rowie is unique to Aberdeen itself.

The quirk of calling a rowie (broad Doric for roll) a buttery is of course that there is no butter in them.

In more cardiovascular aware times rather then butcher's drippings vegetable extract or for the more adventurous lard is used to prepare this unusual bread.

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