Sickles Market - Gourmet Club

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January 2, 2008 – January 13, 2008

Product of the Week – European and European Style Butters

DON’T FORGET TO BRING YOUR GOURMET CLUB CARD!

When Sickles Market started the Gourmet Club Newsletter back in January 2004 we ambitiously tried to do a newsletter every week, introducing 52 gourmet food items to our email subscribers, which, by the end of the year, probably numbered around six hundred. The next year we decided that 26 newsletters was more manageable and we have kept that format since then. Today well over 2000 of you receive the newsletter and, take advantage of our biweekly sale items. Some foods (such as chocolate and citrus) we have done several times but others (such as good European and European style butters) haven’t been done since 2004. While I was food shopping over the holidays I found myself thinking about the foods I think are essential to a well stocked kitchen and Lurpak European butter and Vermont Butter and Cheese’s Cultured Butter with Sea Salt are two items I need in my refrigerator and on my table.


Before I wrote the first Gourmet Club newsletter on butter, I thought butter was butter and I bought whatever was on sale at the market. Then I started trying some of the specialty butters that Sickles carries. Like so many other products we have featured in the Gourmet Club, there are varying degrees of quality and taste. Butter is no different. I think my favorite snack is really crusty artisanal bread spread with good cultured butter. In one little bite you get the creamy texture of the butter and the crunchiness of the crusty bread along with the rich taste of cream! European and European style butters have a creaminess and depth of flavor not found in regular butter. Over the next two weeks you will have a chance to try some of our selections and judge for yourself. Just make sure you have some crusty bread on hand!

The following butters will be 25% off for Gourmet Club members for the next two weeks:

Plugra, Vermont Butter and Cheese Co. Cultured Butter Log, Vermont Butter and Cheese Co. Cultured Butter with Sea Salt, Kerrygold, Celles sur Belle, and Lurpak.

RECIPES –

• Recipe for Making Butter

• Radishes with Chive Butter

• Buttery Citrus Sauce for Fish

• Angel Hair Pasta with Broccoli and Herb Butter

• Orange Maple Butter and Strawberry Butter

• Cornmeal Pancakes with Honey-Pecan Butter

• Vanilla Shortbread Cookies

• Viennese Cherry Cake

• Brown butter Pound Cake

(The website is currently under construction and the Recipe Archives are not currently accessible but you can stop in the office for copies of any recipes you are interested in trying.)

DESCRIPTION –

Butter may be made from the milk of many types of animals including cows, ewes, water buffaloes, goats, and yaks although most is made from cow’s milk. Simply stated, butter is made from cream that, through churning, has been separated into its component parts of fat and liquid.

There are several stages in the process of making butter. First, the raw milk is separated into cream and skim milk. Then the cream is pasteurized to destroy enzymes and micro-organisms. At this point, a bacterial culture may be introduced to the cream (for European style butters) and the cream is ripened. After ripening, or if no culture is added (for most butter made in the United States), the cream is aged by holding it at cool temperatures for between 12 and 15 hours. The aging causes the butterfat globules to crystallize into the proper crystalline structure. The cream is then put in a churn and agitated until the butter granules get bigger and eventually join together. At this point there will be a semisolid mass of butter and the leftover liquid, called buttermilk. The buttermilk is drained off and what is left is butter. Removing as much buttermilk as possible contributes to improved butter texture and flavor. If the butter is to be sold as salted, the salt is added at this point. Then the butter is shaped, wrapped, and stored in a cool place so the butterfat can crystallize and the butter can become firm.

TYPES OF BUTTER –

There are two types of butter sold commercially in the United States and Europe: sweet cream butter and lactic, or cultured, butter. Sweet cream butter is also called fresh cream butter and is made from unripened cream (without any bacterial culture added). It can be either salted or unsalted. This is the type of butter found in all US supermarkets and is the kind most of us grew up on. It has a very mild buttery taste and is creamy. Lactic, or cultured, butter has been ripened by the action of the bacteria which is added to the cream before it is aged and churned. The bacteria help ferment the lactose (milk sugar) and turn it into lactic acid. This process results in a more richly flavored butter. Most European butters are cultured and can be either salted or unsalted. They all have rich, intensely creamy, buttery flavor and a velvety texture.

SALTED VS UNSALTED BUTTER –

Butter is available both salted and unsalted. Originally salt was added to butter as a preservative to keep it from turning rancid so quickly and to extend its shelf life. Most Americans have become used to salted butter since that is how much American butter is sold although unsalted sweet cream butter is also available. Baking experts strongly recommend the use of unsalted butter in all baking, unless the amount of salt called for in the recipe is reduced somewhat to compensate for the salt in the butter. The same holds true for cooking.

AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN BUTTERS –

The FDA regulations stipulate that all sweet cream butter must have a butterfat content of at least 80%. This type of butter also contains 10-16% water. The remaining 4 – 10% is curd (milk solids) and minerals. European butters and ‘European style’ butters made in the United States have a minimum of 82% butterfat and some varieties contain up to 86% butterfat. The higher the fat content in butter, the less water there is. “Increasing the butterfat by just 2.5 percent leads to a 10 percent reduction in moisture.” (New Hope Natural Media Online, 5-12-04, www.newhope.com). The increased butterfat means less water and curd in the butter and, as a result, more butter flavor.

Most US butter is made commercially in large quantities using a method of churning that continuously drains the buttermilk while European butter is made in small batches using a slow churning process that results in a richer butter flavor with a more luxurious texture. The increased percentage of butterfat also contributes to the richer flavor and creamier texture of European butter. Another factor affecting the flavor of the butter is what the milk producing cows eat and where they eat it. Many American cows eat standardized feed in a barn while European cows are allowed to graze in open meadows on sweet green grass. The flavor of the European butter varies with the types of grasses the cows eat so butter from Normandy will taste different than butter from another part of France or from Denmark. Seasonally, too, the flavor will change as the grasses change.

An advantage to using European butter is that it has a lower water content. This causes less splattering when sautéing or frying. Because of the increased butterfat, there are fewer milk solids left in European butter and it is the milk solids that scorch when cooking with butter. In addition, European butter has a higher smoking point and a higher melting point. All of this means that you can cook at higher temperatures with European cultured 82% fat butter than you can with American sweet cream 80% fat butter.

Does this mean that you should only buy European butters? No, but it does mean that you should choose your butter based on what you are doing. You can use American butter when you are depending on the butter to provide fat rather than flavor to the finished dish but if you are making butter based sauces, such as hollandaise or béarnaise, you should definitely use European butter. You can use American butter if you will be making ghee or brown butter (melting butter till it turns brown) because the butter will taste slightly burned from the prolonged cooking anyway but if you are clarifying butter you will want to use European butter to get a richer butter flavor (it is cooked a shorter time than the ghee). If you are sautéing or frying you should use European butter because it handles high heat better than American butters. If you are making flavored butters you probably want to use European butter so you get a richer butter flavor. Again, you should choose European butter if you are using butter as a condiment or to finish a dish and you want to taste the butter as a component of the dish. Bakers will tell you that European butter should be used for pastries and baking. European butter makes for crisper pie crusts and lighter, flakier, smoother textured baked goods that rise higher as well as providing a more buttery flavor. You will definitely taste the difference. European butter should be used if it is being served by itself, as an accompaniment or condiment to bread or toast where the flavor is of paramount importance. European butter has a clean, rich, creamy butter taste and an incredibly smooth, velvety mouth feel. Salted or unsalted, there is no comparison between American and European butter when eaten on bread!

A BIT ABOUT WHAT’S ON SALE –

Plugra is European style butter that is available either salted or unsalted in 8 oz foil wrapped bars. It was developed by Keller’s Creamery in Harleysville, PA in the early 1980’s in response to requests by European chefs working in this country for butter with a higher percent of butterfat. The name even means “more fat”. It contains 82% butterfat. It is sweet cream butter rather than cultured butter so it does not have the slight tang that cultured butter has.

Vermont Butter and Cheese Company Cultured Butter comes in an 8 oz. log sealed in plastic wrap and then wrapped in paper. It is 86% butterfat which also means it has a very low moisture content. It is very lightly salted (0.3%) so it may be used as either salted or unsalted butter. It has greater elasticity than American butters so it holds together when it is rolled into sheets and produces lighter, flakier pastry. Vermont Butter and Cheese Company is located in Websterville, VT and is owned and operated by Bob Reese and Allison Hooper (this year’s American Cheese Society President). Hooper learned her butter making skills in Brittany and makes her butter the traditional European way in small batches using cream from local dairies that have herds of Swiss Brown and Jersey cows that produce much richer milk than the Holstein cows normally found in American dairy herds. Hooper and Reese also allow their cream to mature for a little while before churning so the butter will develop a richer flavor. They also pasteurize it at lower temperatures for a longer period to minimize loss of flavor. Their butter has won numerous industry awards including the following: The American Cheese Society (2000 – 2003), the US Cheese Championship (3rd place 2003 & 2001) and the Summer Fancy Food Show (finalist, 2003 for Outstanding Product Line, finalist, 2002 for Outstanding Food Service, 3rd place, 2001 for Salted Butter).

Vermont Butter & Cheese Cultured Butter with Sea Salt is their cultured butter with the addition of natural and Kosher certified sea salt from Haiti. It is a 6 ounce hand wrapped ‘motte (an artisanal round or butter) that is packed in a little wooden basket. I think of it as a little bit of heaven. It was a winner at the 2004 Fancy Food Show in New York. Hooper and Reese consider it their “Grand Cru” cultured butter. It is incredibly creamy, with a delicate butter flavor. The crunch of the added sea salt crystals complements the creamy texture of the butter for an incredible taste experience.

Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter is salted (containing 4% of daily values – 105 mg per tablespoon) and comes in 8 oz. foil wrapped bars. It contains at least 82% butterfat. All Kerrygold butter is made from cream that comes from grass fed cows that have not been fed hormones. No artificial additives, colorings, or flavorings are used in the production of Kerrygold butter. All you get is the rich taste and silky texture of rich sweet cream butter which makes sauces smoother, pastries flakier, and cakes moister and less crumbly.

Celles sur Belle butter comes in 250 gram foil wrapped bars. It is unsalted cultured butter made in France. Celles sur Belle is Grand Cru Appellation d’Origine Contrôllé butter from the Charentes-Poitou region. As an A.O.C. butter, it is made in the traditional manner using traditional barrel shaped churns and is matured 24 to 36 hours before being churned. The maturing process allows the development of this butter’s characteristic nutty flavor.

Lurpak Danish Butter comes in 8 oz. foil wrapped bars. It is a cultured butter with 82% butterfat that has been made since 1901 and is available both unsalted and salted. The production of Lurpak butter is subject to strict quality controls, with an independent company doing weekly quality assessments. Only that butter which has met those standards is allowed to be exported. Lurpak butter has received a Gold Medal for Taste in 2001, 2002, and 2003 from the Quality Institute International (now called the American Culinary Institute). This butter is rich and creamy with a silky smooth texture. (This one is my personal favorite!)

BUTTER FACTS –

Butter is a delicate commodity. Although the large amount of butterfat in butter makes it have a longer shelf life than milk or cream it still will start to deteriorate almost immediately after being made because of oxidation and hydrolysis. Foil wrapped butter is better protected from light, oxygen and odors than paper wrapped butter.

When you get the butter home it is important to store it properly. Butter should never be stored in the butter compartment in the door it is too warm a location. If you will be using the butter within two weeks you can store it on a shelf in the refrigerator where it will be kept at 32º-38ºF. Butter should be stored in its original container until it is used. Once you start using it make sure you wrap it tightly when replacing it in the refrigerator since butter easily absorbs foreign odors and flavors. Butter you will not use quickly should be well wrapped in plastic and put in the freezer where it may be kept for up to 4 months. Every time butter is exposed to air and light deteriorates a little so be sure to bring out only as much butter as you need at any time. Refrigerated butter is “firm” and should be softened before serving for ease of use and flavor enhancement.

SERVING SUGGERSTIONS –

Use European and European style butters instead of American butter in your baking for better butter flavor and flakier and more delicate texture. Use it in your cooking because it can tolerate a higher heat. I think, however, the most important time to use these butters as condiments for finishing a dish, whether you choose to spread it on a slice of good, crusty artisanal bread or top a piece of “hot off the grill” meat or fish. Spread a bit on a crunchy, fresh radish for a wonderful taste sensation Try the cultured butter with sea salt for this so you get that wonderful combination of crunch from the radish and sea salt with the smooth texture of the butter as well as the sweetness of the butter and the saltiness and bit of the sea salt and the radish. Toss good butter with good pasta for a deliciously simple dish. Melt some butter in a pan and sauté slices of artisanal bread in the butter until lightly browned and then serve the bread with slices of foie gras for a special dish.

Butter is a basic flavor and ingredient that should be in everyone’s “pantry” along with salt, pepper, lemon, vanilla, and chocolate. The flavor and texture it imparts to food is irreplaceable with any other fat. Today, especially after the holidays, many people are watching their fat intake. If you limit the amount of fat you use, should you choose margarine or butter? Butter is a healthier choice than margarine, which contains artificial ingredients such as stabilizers and coloring and also hydrogenated fats. European butter is the best choice. Since European butter has a more intense butter flavor, a little goes a long way. You don’t need to use as much butter to get a better butter flavor. The motto of the American Butter Institute is “Things are better with butter”. As I recall, there was a butter commercial comparing butter to margarine. The conclusion was “Butter is better!” I would add to that line “but European butter is best!” Try some today!

Happy eating!

Sallie Smith

BOOKS ANS WEBSITES –

Davidson, Alan. The Penguin Companion to Food. Penguin Books, NY, 2002.

Ingram, Christine. The World Encylcopedia of Cooking Ingredients. Hermes House,
London, 2004.

Walter, Carole. Great Pies and Tarts. Clarkson Potter, NY, 1998.

www.challengedairy.com
www.ohio.com
www.gourmetretailer.com
www.newhope.com
www.sptimes.com
www.kellerscreamery.com
www.cooksillustrated.com
www.gmtoday.com
www.ziyad.com
www.dairyfoods.com
www.kerrygold.com
www.butterandcheese.com
www.boston.com
www.winespectator.com
www.qii.org
www.foodservice.com
www.mdfoods.com
www.webexhibits.org