Everything you always wanted to know about butter

Butter has had a history that has claimed superstar status through the ages. Records of use date back to 2000 years before Christ. It was believed to be formulated by accident by nomads. In ancient times, it was utilized as commerce and was exchanged for wine, dried fish, and was used heavily in Northern European Countries. Butter was also found buried in Ireland buried in the bogs. The website www.webexibits.org/butter states in an issue of the New York Produce Review and American Creamery, December 4, 1907 tells of a traveler in central Africa in 1872 being offered butter encased in leaves and covered with a layer of cow dung which when dry kept air from the butter. Food Historians report in the early days of South Water Market in Chicago, butter was transported in open wagons covered with grass freshly cut while still wet with dew.

The politics of the plate

In the 14^th century, in the oil devoted European south, butter was expensive and sparse and tended to be a luxury. In the middle ages, it was a food that was banned during lent. A minor worry in the south, but in the north, where it was produced, it was a great suffering. The southern Europeans cashed in on selling oil to the north, but the cynical northerners paid their way out, this is how the famous butter tower of the Rouen Cathedral was built. Nicknamed the Butter Tower, it was paid for by the local community who refused to go without their daily butter.

Until the 18^th century, the southern people from Mediterranean lands believed that butter induced leprosy because it was so prevalent in the north. The Cardinal of Aragon took his own cook and plenty of olive oil when he formally toured Holland in 1516. It was deemed eccentric behavior to regularly consume butter. Through industrialization, butter became less political and more about taste.

The birthplace of French butter

Chef Monique Hooker, a prominent French Chef from Brittany who leads culinary tours to France and other exotic locals has some fascinating stories about the history of Butter. The Bretons have been selling butter to the rest of France since the 1500's. Famous for their butter, Chef Hooker was plunged in the butter culture since childhood.

“In cultures around the world butter is regarded as a gift from and food of the gods. Tibetans make it part of their bride dowry. They also burn butter candles, and decorate with mounds of butter” Chef Hooker says.

As a youngster growing up in Brittany, Chef Hooker notes that butter was the king of the table. “We Bretons say of ourselves that the milk of human kindness is churned into butter.” “Breton butter's reputation has endured since the middle ages.

“The secret to the famous butter from Brittany is the Pie Noirs cows, who give the milk for the gloriously yellow Breton butter. Those pastures remind me of the countryside where I know live in southwestern Wisconsin” Hooker declares.

Chef reminisces that when she was a child at least weekly, butter was made on her farm. Churning the butter was a duty by Monique and her younger brother and sister. “We made this simple but laborious and time consuming task easier by making a game out of it. We devised a counting system of how many turns each one of us had to take, so the churning was split evenly. We looked though the little glass window on top of the butter churn to see which one of us got the curd to turn into a mass.”

“Decorating mounds of butter was an art since all the butter for the table was decorated. Tools such as butter molds and butter stamps were sometimes used, but all the children had to learn the art of decorating butter using both ends of different sized spoons. A weekly offering of butter was also made and offered to the church as payment, which was then sold to the wealthy in town. It was a way for the money to stay in the church.”

Fast forward to today and butter is still a culinary star. With the popularity of artisan food producers, celebrity chef’s such as Thomas Keller, seeks out butter from Vermont from a cow named Lulu for his famous restaurants. A farm made butter can make a great dish even better. Sometimes compared to great olive oil, butter can add a silky smooth feel to sauces and add taste that is out of this world.

Have a butter tasting

Intrigued by the taste of real butter? Be the first on the block to have a butter tasting. You will be surprised at the subtle differences between the kinds of butters. I suggest getting at least five kinds of butter, including a cultured butter and goat’s milk if you can find it. Set up the butters at room temperature for easier spreading. Have some fresh baked sliced soft bread that doesn’t have strong flavors, and add crackers and other butter friendly vehicles to round out the tasting. Encourage your guests to make notes and discover their favorite.

The following are other flavor characteristics common to butter from the www. webexibits.org website and can be used as a guide for describing the specific tastes of butter.

Acid	Associated with moderate acid development in the milk or cream, or excessive ripening of the cream.
Aged	Associated with short or extended holding periods of butter. The holding temperature will affect the rate of development of this flavor. May also occur if high quality raw material is not properly handled and promptly processed so that the flavor loses its freshness.
Bitter	Attributable to the action of certain microorganisms or enzymes in the cream before churning, certain types of feeds and late lactation.
Cooked	Associated with using high temperatures in pasteurization of sweet cream.
Coarse	Associated with using high temperatures in pasteurization of cream with slight acid development.
Feed	Attributable to feed eaten by cows and the flavors being absorbed in the milk and carried through into the butter. Most dry feeds (like hay or concentrates), silage, green alfalfa, and various grasses produce feed flavors in butter. Silage flavor may vary in degree and character depending on the time of feeding, extent of fermentation and kind of silage.
Flat	Attributable to excessive washing of the butter or to a low percentage of fats or volatile acids and other volatile products that help to produce a pleasing butter flavor.
Malty	Attributable to the growth of the organism Streptococcus lactic var. maltigenes in milk or cream. It is often traced to improperly washed and sanitized utensils in which this organism has developed.
Musty	Attributable to cream from cows grazing on slough grass, eating musty or moldy feed or drinking stagnant water.
Neutralizer	Attributable to excessive or improper use of alkaline products to reduce the acidity of the cream before pasteurization.
Old Cream	Attributable to aged cream, or inadequate or improper cooling of the cream. This flavor may be accentuated by unclean utensils and processing equipment.
Scorched	Associated with using excessively high temperatures in pasteurization of cream with developed acidity, prolonged holding times in forewarming vats or when using vat pasteurization. Also associated with vat pasteurization without adequate agitation.
Smothered	Attributable generally to improper handling and delayed cooling of the cream.
Storage	Associated with extended holding periods of butter for several months or longer.
Utensil	Attributable to handling or storing milk or cream in equipment which is in poor condition or improperly sanitized.
Weed	Attributable to milk or cream from cows which have been fed on weed infested pastures or weedy hay.
Whey	Attributable to the use of whey cream or the blending of cream and whey cream for buttermaking.

Making Butter at Home

Making butter is easy with a food processor, and it produces a light fresh taste. You will need:

1-2 cups heavy whipping cream, or double cream (1/3 liter)
(preferably without carrageenan or other stabilizers)

Fit food processor with plastic blade, whisk, or normal chopping blade. Fill food processor about 1/4 - 1/2 full. Blend. The cream will go through the following stages: Sloshy, frothy, soft whipped cream, firm whipped cream, coarse whipped cream. Then, suddenly, the cream will seize, its smooth shape will collapse, and the whirring will change to sloshing. The butter is now fine grained bits of butter in buttermilk, and a few seconds later, a glob of yellowish butter will separate from milky buttermilk. Drain the buttermilk.

You can eat the butter now -- it has a light taste -- though it will store better if you wash and work it. Add 1/2 cup (100 mL) of ice-cold water, and blend further. Discard wash water and repeat until the wash water is clear. Now, work butter to remove suspended water. Either place damp butter into a cool bowl and knead with a potato masher or two forks; or put in large covered jar, and shake or tumble. Continue working, pouring out the water occasionally, until most of the water is removed. The butter is now ready. Put butter in a butter crock, ramekins, or roll in waxy freezer paper.

Yield: About half as much butter as the amount of cream you started with.

Various options:

• Salt to taste before working, a few pinches.
  
• Have the cream around 60°F/15°C before churning. (55°F/13°C for goat milk)
  
• Obtain the freshest cream you can. So-called "vat pasteurized cream" tastes better than ultra heat treated (UHT) or HTST pasteurized. Try calling your state Department of Agriculture, and asking the Milk Control office who sells vat pasteurized cream.
  
• Shake in a jar instead of a food processor. Shake about once a second. Add a marble to speed things up. This is fun with kids, but expect it to take between 5-30 minutes, depending on the shaking.
  
• Culture the cream before churning. Add a few tablespoons (50 mL) store-bought cultured yogurt, buttermilk, sour cream, clabbered cream, or creme fraiche, and let sit about 12 hours at warm room temperature (75°F/24°C is ideal) to thicken and ferment before churning. It should taste delicious, slightly sour, with no aftertaste. If it is bubbly, or smells yeasty or gassy, discard.
  
• Use some butter making tools, such as a churn, paddle for working, or molds for forming the finished butter.

Recipe from www.webexibits.org/butter

Butter Tips and Facts

-Salted or unsalted? The distinction is that salted butter has about ¼ teaspoon per stick. Bakers like to utilize unsalted so they can control the quantity of salt in the recipe. Salt is added as a preservative and can cover odors. Use salted for savory dishes and unsalted for baking and spreading and you can't go wrong.

- Unsalted butter has a shorter shelf life.

-Frozen butter will last up to six months; just place it in the fridge to defrost before handling.

-Clarified butter is butter that is slowly heated and the milk solids are separated from the top. The advantage of this procedure is that the butter has a higher burning point and performs well for sautéing.

- By law, American butter has to have 80% butter fat and not in excess of 15% water. French butter has a higher percent of fat, which equals to more flavor. Substituting French butter for American butter in baking is risky, and should be approached with caution.

-Cultured butter is made by adding a live organic culture for fresh organic cream to slowly ripen before churning the cream into butter. Organic Valley Dairy reports that making butter this way makes it easier to digest and allows the sweet cream flavor to come through.

-Goats Milk Butter is made from Goat’s milk and has a mild flavor similar to goat’s milk cheese.