We mark the final day of Coeliac UK Awareness Week with a special edition of Me and My Buttery on gluten-free butteries.
Bev Lee is the owner of Bev’s Bistro, a restaurant on Holburn Street in Aberdeen that prides itself on its gluten-free kitchen.
The bistro also does a roaring trade in mail-order gluten-free butteries and is one of the few places in the world that you can get your hands on them.
We chat to Bev and Bev’s Bistro manager Alan Bruce, who is a coeliac, about the high demand across the UK for their gluten-free rowies and why they are trying to stamp out gluten-free snobbery.
Hi, Bev and Alan. Welcome to Me and My Buttery. When did you first start making gluten-free rowies?
Bev: Alan used to run Alan Bruce Cakes and we both used to do all the farmers markets.
That’s where we met, and if I needed anything gluten-free I’d ask Alan and if he needed anything non-gluten-free he’d ask me.
So what’s the difference between a gluten-free rowie and a non-gluten-free one?
Alan: Texture. That’s the only difference.
It’s exactly the same recipe only they are made with a potato- and maize-based flour instead of regular flour.
How do eat you them?
Bev: I only do them made-to-order and people will order three or four packets at a time.
There’s six in each packet, so you pop them in the freezer and when you are ready to eat them stick them in the microwave for 10 seconds and you are ready to go.
They are beautiful.
People must be really happy to find out you make gluten-free butteries.
Bev: We’ve got regular customers up in Skye and some in Orkney.
We’ve got some down in the Borders as well as in London.
There’s one lady whose sister is in Hampshire and she always takes some down to her.
What’s the typical reaction?
Bev: People are really surprised as people love them.
Some people think that once they’ve been diagnosed with coeliac, it’s the end of the world. That’s until they’ve tried our gluten-free stuff, of course.
We find that there is an awful lot of snobbery around gluten-free. In my bistro everything is gluten-free, but sometimes when people find that out they stop eating.
We want people to know that being diagnosed coeliac or gluten free doesn’t mean you have to suddenly become a rabbit and eat only rabbit food.
Finally, how do you eat your – gluten-free – butteries?
Bev: I’m from Bromley in London originally, so am not from around here. But I like having fresh fruit with my buttery to counteract the grease.
Alan: Philadelphia or marmalade for me.
Bev’s Bistro is on 123 Holburn St in Aberdeen. To order gluten-free butteries from Bev and Alan, click here.