Doesn’t everything taste better with a little butter? We think so, and so does Auckland-based baker extraordinaire and business owner Petra Galler.
After working as a pastry chef in Melbourne, and locally, at celebrity chef Peter Gordon’s cooking school, Homeland, Petra launched, Butter Butter, a business under which she began selling sumptuous cakes, pastries, and breads with unique Middle Eastern flavours.
Now she’s also a best-selling cookbook author with her debut Butter, Butter: Sometimes more is more, having launched in 2023. Mouth-watering recipes including knafeh, challah and medovik honey cake even caught the eye of renowned Middle Eastern chef Yotam Ottolenghi, who shared the cookbook on social media. We caught up with Petra to discuss baking, business and all things butter!
You went out on your own after working as a full-time pastry for many years. What inspired you to take this plunge?
I’d been working in restaurant kitchens for 12 years and felt it was time for a change. They are relentless places and it got to the point where I asked myself if I wanted to be working myself to the bone for someone else? Obviously, the answer was no!
What’s most difficult about being a business owner?
I’m still figuring it out to be honest. It took a while to adjust to not having a salary and the irregularity the work is most stressful. Staying calm during quiet patches is something I need to master.
And the best part?
It’s so liberating having complete creative control. I run Butter Butter on a request basis which keeps it so fun and fresh for me – no day is the same. Being able to get up at 7am, instead of 4am, is also a luxury!
We love the title of your cookbook! Can you describe the origins?
We live in a time when everyone’s obsessed with wellness, and it felt like real cake got cancelled. It’s deeply cliche, but life is so short and are we really going to live in fear of the occasional bit of cake? If you’re going to bake or eat cake, do it properly! More is more, especially when it comes to food. More butter, more spice, more sugar, more texture!
Butter, Butter was inspired by your Jewish heritage. How has this impacted you?
Food was the centrepiece of everything. As a people, we’re feeders, and my family was no exception. My dad is a wonderful cook, and him and I would often spend hours in the kitchen. My Polish paternal grandmother, Zofia – who we called Zaza – was an Auschwitz survivor and had a funny relationship with food. She never ate anything, preferring a white wine spritzer and a million cigarettes instead, but when it came to feeding us, she was pretty staunch. She would make a huge tray of stuffed savoury crepes and insist that you ate every last one of them.
Jewish and Eastern European flavours are all over my book. There are recipes featured that are so nostalgic. Nothing has the power to bring people together better like food. Cooking is a way of showing love; that is how I grew up, and that is how I feel now.
What flavours and foods did you want to introduce New Zealanders?
I feel we can be pretty dull here in NZ when it comes to baking. There are so many exciting directions baking can take you and I really wanted to show people that in an accessible way. Kataifi pastry, pistachio, orange blossom, halva, tahini; these are a few flavours I highlight in my book.
Keep up with Petra and get your hands on a copy of Butter, Butter: Sometimes more is more, on Instagram @butterbutternz
