Macaroni Pies and Rowies. Aberdeen, Scotland
April 2021 Before I set off for Scotland, a friend told me that under no circumstance could I leave until I'd tried a Macaroni. Being a big fan of macaroni cheese, I happily accepted this challenge. My main issue was finding one. Although they are widespread, they're not the kind of item to frequent the shelves of the kind of sourdough bakeries and coffee micro roasteries that I gravitate towards. What I needed was one of those traditional, family run since 1964 bakeries full of sandwich loaves and iced buns. Fortunately there are plenty dotted around the streets of Aberdeen, including Thain's which is rumoured to be open 24/7 for all those mid-night pie cravings. It was exactly as expected - gooey, stodgy macaroni cheese in a pastry case which seemed to serve no purpose other than to make it holdable. I decided I couldn't leave without sampling another Aberdeen essential - the buttery, or rowie. Described as a savoury roll, it lives up to it's ...