I remember once I was watching a movie “That Thing You Love”, in which a French lady keep complaining that the local butter tastes different from the French butter.
To that I thought:
Hey French people, why do you have to be so pretentious, butter is butter, okay!
Recently, I read a lot of articles about butter, and many of them mentioned the difference in butter in various regions. The video made below can give you a brief overview of what I learned: (play directly and the English Subtitles will automatically be displayed)
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uG_oTrv7Kc[/embedyt]
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In this article, I’ll explain the distinctions in butter around the world from various perspectives, starting with Australian butter and moving on to Europe, the United States, and India, and examining each one separately, as well as introducing the basic information of the publishers who wrote these information.
Is Australian Butter Yellower?
Did you know that Australian butter is usually yellower? I actually didn’t know about this before. However, it appears that Google’s People Also Ask stated that there are indeed many people asking on Google “Why is Australia’s butter so yellow?”
The answer to this question is from an article titled “Battle of the butters” published on “Sydney Morning Herald”. The Sydney Morning Herald is an Australian daily newspaper in Sydney, New South Wales.
This article was published on the 13th, 2010. What’s interesting is that this article is not actually talking about how good Australian butter is.
IF you look carefully, this article is actually talking about why European butter was better at that time. They also talked about how to improve the production process of Australian butter. But there is a paragraph in the article that indeed answers the question “Why is Australia’s butter so yellow?”
This is the paragraph from the article:
Australian dairy cattle graze on grass with high levels of beta carotene — the compound that makes carrots orange — and butter yellow. Many European cattle are housed in barns and fed dry food containing less beta carotene.
After reading the article, I came to the realization that dairy cows’ diet does have an impact on the quality of their milk and their final dairy products.
This reminds me of Canada buttergate incident was also because the dairy farmers added palm oil to the cattle’s diet, which caused the texture of the butter to change.
“Sydney Morning Herald” (SMH) in The compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia is the oldest and continuously issued newspaper in Australia, and it is also the “most read newspaper in Australia”. The newspaper is published Monday to Saturday in a compact print edition. Politics tends to be conservative; represents the values of the wealthy class.
Why do (Pretentious?) Europeans look down their noses at American butter?
So, let us now explain why those arrogant Europeans always claim that American butter is inferior compared to theirs.
The answer to this question is extracted from a travel magazine article published by Travel + Leisure titled “The Real Difference Between American and European Butter”.
This article explains some of the differences between European butter and American butter.
According to this article, the churning process of European butter is usually longer, resulting in a milk fat content of more than 82%, and the fermentation process of European cream is also more complete.
But does European butter taste any different from American butter as a result? According to this article, the answer is yes: European butter usually has a strong, slightly sour taste. These kinds of butter usually have a richer taste and aroma (because they are more creamy). European butter also melts faster, so it is especially suitable for baking.
U.S. butter is regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which stipulates that butter must contain at least 80% butterfat. American butter usually does not contain many kinds of yeast included in European butter production, so American butter relatively lacks fermented flavor.
This is the “rough” difference between American butter and European butter, but in fact, there are also differences between brands. In recent years, some high-end brands in the United States have started to imitate the European style butter, Europe may also have dairy farmers who are too lazy to ferment.
Furthermore, even in Europe, each country has its own way of making butter, and tastes vary from place to place. So in the next paragraph, we are going to focus on the most elegant (aka pretentious) French and discuss their butter.
Travel + Leisure is a travel magazine headquartered in New York City, New York. According to its corporate media information, the magazine publishes 12 issues a year and has a readership of more than 4.8 million. Meredith Corporation owns its operating rights and publishing rights. Its main competitor is “Condé Nast Traveler” (Condé Nast Traveler).
Is French cultured butter really the best? Or they are just being pretentious?
Well, we know how much Europeans dislike American butter, but there are many countries in Europe. Among them, it is probably the French who complain about butter in other countries the most, but why?
This is another question in People Also Ask: Why does French butter taste better?
One article published in New York Times titled “Butter With a Pedigree. Ah, the French” was written by the famous American cookbook author Dorie Greenspan , which explained in detail the difference between French butter and American butter.
This article first uses Dolly’s experience in France to let us know how savage French people can be when comparing French cultured butter with American butter. The story goes like this :
Dolly travels between the United States and France frequently. Once she ask the famous French pastry chef Lionel Poilâne to share his cookies recipe, but he frowned and said:
”I’d love to give you my cookie recipe, but I won’t because you’ll never be able to make it in America. Your butter just isn’t the same as ours.”
Then, according to Dolly, Lionel went on to use the way a teacher might regard a slow student and asked “”What is it about your butter?””
Dolly frowned and thought to herself: “What is it indeed? Or put another way, what is it about French butter?”
Dolly goes from New York to Paris on a monthly basis, so she is well-versed in the differences between the two cities’ butter. She knows that the butter bought in Paris has a stronger taste than American butter, and it has a unique flavor and nutty taste. She also knows that French butter has a firmer texture but at the same time it is more malleable. She knew that when she put the butter at room temperature in her New York apartment, the cream would become soft and deformed, while the cream in the Paris apartment would maintain a complete square shape and toffee-like flexibility.
Dolly later learned about the production process of French Echire butter, and learned about the differences:
1. As mentioned above, the European butter specification requires that the cream has 82% butterfat, while the US only needs 80%
Here Dolly also points out some American butter brands that emulate European regulations, including:
- Plugra’s European Style Butter-82% Cream (European Style Butter)
- Land O’Lakes’ Super Rich Cream-83% Milk Fat (Ultra Creamy Butter)
- Vermont Butterc and Cheese Company Butter follow the example of French Ai Xu-86% milk fat.
2. French Echire butter has stricter fermentation process
Most of the industrially produced American butter is not fermented and is labeled “Sweet Cream.” On the other hand, the cream used to make French Echire butter is usually left for 16 to 18 hours after pasteurization and fermentation. During the process, it will produce a strong flavor and a certain acidity, making it a French sour cream before it becomes butter.
In fact, the famous French pastry chef Pierre Hermé once conducted the following blind test:
He used American butter and French fermented butter to make pastries and asked his American pastry chefs to do the blind test. The result was indeed French The flavor made with cream is better, and the pastry made with French butter is crispier and richer in flavor.
But I also have to point out that Pierre Hermé’s approach is actually single-blind rather than double-blind, so it is not completely scientific, but at least it has been tested.
Dolly later persuaded Pierre Ermé to share his cookie recipe, and I will post the video of the recipe below:
The difference between butter and Ghee
Handmade Indian ghee Neha Sonal, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
I remember in my first year studying in the United States, my roommate was an Indian couple. Since I was too lazy to cook, they were usually the ones who prepare us food. Among the food they made, the most commonly used ingredient is ghee, which is so delicious that the milky and creamy flavor literally explodes in your mouth.
One of my favorite dishes they made is Dal (a curry made from lentils) topped with a large dollop of ghee, super incredible and delicious and I really cant’ describe how creamy the dish is!
After the couple moved to New York, I moved out and lived by myself. Once I tried to cook it with ordinary butter, the taste was not right at all, and it didn’t have the bold and explosive buttery taste. In the end, I had to buy ghee from an Indian supermarket to reproduce the same result.
So the question is, what is the difference between Indian ghee and ordinary butter? This brings up another question in People Also Ask: Is butter and ghee the same?
The article titled The Difference Between Butter and Ghee roughly explains the difference between butter and ghee.
Ghee is butter minus milk solids and water
According to the article titled “the difference between butter and Indian ghee” , Ghee is butter that has been slowly cooked over a low heat for a long time. In this process, milk protein and water will be gradually removed, forming almost 100% pure butterfat.
Is Indian ghee the same as clarified butter? All ghee is regarded as clarified butter, but not all clarified butter is regarded as ghee, because it is usually heated longer, resulting in caramel flavor and exuding subtle nutty aroma, so it can be said that Indian ghee is a relatively high-end clarified butter.
Indian ghee and clarified butter traditionally used in Indian cuisine have a higher smoke point than ordinary butter, so both are very suitable for sauteing and stir-fry. If you have ever tried to stir-fry dishes with normal butter, you will know that it will easily burn if you are not careful. Using clarified butter or Indian ghee will not cause this problem at all, and because of the higher butterfat content, the finished product will have a richer buttery flavor!
Tasting Table (registered trademark is TDT Media Inc.) is a digital media company that publishes food and beverage related information. The brand’s website and email press releases report on food and beverage trends, such as dining, wine, cocktails, cooking and food travel. In addition to publishing original articles, photos and videos, various events are held, including the annual Lobster Rumble (Lobster Rumble) .
Indian Amul butter made from buffalo milk
So is there any “ordinary butter” in India? The answer is yes. The most famous of one is Amul Butter. However, according to an article published in the The Economic Times titled “How Amul became utterly butterly delicious. and salty”, Amul may still taste very different from traditional butter.
The following is the general idea of the article:
Before refrigerators were available in India, it was not easy to store butter in hot climates.Instead of produceing ordinary butter, Indian tends to produce ghee which has a longer shelf life. But then the British army stationed in Mumbai, and those who came from Britain began to miss the butter from their hometown, so the military established military dairy farms all over India and sold the extra butter it produced to civilians.
At the same time, farmers in the Kaira area of Kajarat now realize that it would be good to provide milk products to the fast-growing Mumbai Business.
Several entrepreneurs and the government at the time also established a dairy factory in the area. The factory was responsible for making butter in Mumbai and sending it to Mumbai. One of them The entrepreneur named Pesiji Edulji Dalal created the brand Polson, which is quite popular among the British.
So when a customer of the army’s supply unit told him that the army still had problems with the supply of butter, he immediately established a dairy factory in Keila. He also used his relationship with the army and the railway to ensure that his company became a stable butter supplier for the army. Over time, Polson became synonymous with butter.
By 1930, Polson dominated the butter market. However, Posen’s monopoly angered the local farmer leader Tribhuvandas K. Patel, and Tribhuvan as later organized a cooperative enterprise to fight against it, which was the predecessor of Amul butter. According to this article, different from Polson’s butter which was usually made from expired cream, and then processed to remove the odor. Amer insists on using only fresh cream to make the cream. The processes from milk to cream to butter are all completed on the same day.
However, Indians have become accustomed to the high-salt and high-fermented cream produced by Polson, so they feel that Amul’s cream has a bland taste in comparison. Therefore, Amul’s solution was that they added a chemical additive called diacetyl to the cream to enhance the creamy taste of the product.
Because Amul butter is made with local buffalo milk, they also add salt and add coloring to make the white buffalo milk a light yellow color that people are accustomed to The color of cream.
I tried Amul butter. The package really said it contained buffalo milk, and the taste was very different. I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s very different. To be honest, I prefer Amul’s Indian ghee, their Indian ghee is really delicious!
“Economic Times” is an English-language daily newspaper under the Indian Times Group (The Times Group). “Economic Times” was published in 1961. As of 2012, it is the world’s second most read English-language business newspaper, second only to the Wall Street Journal, with a readership of more than 800,000.
It is simultaneously distributed in 14 cities: Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Chandigarh, Pune , Indore and Bhopal. Its main content includes the Indian economy, international finance, stock prices, commodity prices and other matters related to finance.
What are some books where can I learn some fun facts about Butter?
By the way, since you are here chances are that you might be interested in butter, so where are some books related to butter that I really like? Of course, those are affiliate links but those are the books I genuinely think are helpful :
- Butter: A Rich History by Elaine Khosrova: This book is a comprehensive history of butter, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to its current popularity around the world. Khosrova also shares some fun facts about butter, such as the fact that the world’s earliest butters were made from the milk of yak, sheep, and goats—not cows!
- Butter: A Celebration by Olivia Potts is a book about the history, science, and culture of butter. Potts explores the many ways that butter has been used throughout history, from its role in ancient religious rituals to its use as a currency in some cultures. She also discusses the different types of butter that are produced around the world, and she provides recipes for using butter in a variety of dishes.
- Flavored Butters: How to Make Them, Shape Them, and Use Them as Spreads, Toppings, and Sauces (50 Series) by Kate Heywood is a cookbook that teaches you how to make flavored butters. Heywood provides recipes for a variety of flavored butters, including sweet butters, savory butters, and herb butters. She also discusses how to use flavored butters in a variety of dishes.
- Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton is a memoir about Hamilton’s journey from reluctant cook to acclaimed chef. Hamilton shares her experiences working in some of New York City’s best restaurants, and she offers insights into the culinary world.
Other common questions about butter
How is butter made?
According to The Kitchn, butter is made by a process called churning, which mixing cow dairy products made of milk or fresh cream. The churning process separates the butterfat (solid) from the buttermilk (liquid). Usually, the butter on the market is made from cow milk, although there are other types of butter made from the milk of sheep, goats, yak or buffalo. Some manufacturers also add salt or food coloring to the cream during the production process.
How are milk and fresh cream made into butter? What’s the scientific explanation?
According to “Scientific American” the traditional butter-making process starts with making cream. When whole milk is standing still, tiny fat molecules will float to the top, forming a layer of cream that can be collected. Then in order to make the butter, the cream must be stirred (this process is called churning) so that the fat molecules shake and gather together. Eventually, after enough agitation, the fat molecules clump to a certain extent and form butter. At this time, the fat molecules have been clearly separated from the liquid in the cream, and this liquid can be made into buttermilk.
Does butter contain milk? Can people with lactose intolerance eat butter?
According to an article compiled by healthline.com, a US health insurance website, because butter is made of milk, it is a dairy product. Nevertheless, people with lactose intolerance can usually eat butter without being uncomfortable. Although this seems contradictory, there are several explanations. People who cannot tolerate dairy products usually cannot drink milk because of the protein or carbohydrates in milk. People who are allergic to milk will have an allergic reaction to its protein, while people who are lactose intolerant cannot digest the main carbohydrate lactose in milk.
In addition, some people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) must also avoid lactose intake. However, unlike most dairy products, butter has a very low lactose content. Therefore, people who must follow a lactose-free diet can usually consume butter. Some children who are allergic to milk seem to be able to eat butter.
Although the butter contains almost no milk protein, it can cause discomfort for some people even with a small amount of protein. For these people, ghee or clarified butter with less milk protein content can be considered as a substitute for butter.
Why is butter so delicious? What is the scientific explanation?
According to webexhibits.org organized, high-fat foods are usually delicious. Because humans have evolved to need energy, we have evolved an instinctive love for high-fat foods. butterfat, the main ingredient of butter, is a high-fat food that humans instinctively want to eat. Furthermore, because the aroma of many other ingredients can be dissolved in fat. Butter is very suitable as a flavor carrier for spices, vanilla and other fat-soluble ingredients. When you saute the onions with cream before adding the basic ingredients, all the flavors of the onions will be brought to the overall dish by the cream. Butter can also be used to make sauces to provide the main flavor of the sauce. For example, Bechamel sauces usually use butter flavor as the base flavor.
What is the best butter brand in the world?
The taste of butter should vary from person to person, but the following information is for reference:
Lurpak won the coveted first prize for the best cream brand in the biennial 2018 World Cheese Championships. Lurpak won the salted cream category with 99.8 points (out of 100 points), beating more than 30 other butterand winning the championship.
Also, The Choice team, an Australian food product review website, tried 33 brands of cream in the market and found the following four brands of cream to be the most delicious:
- Lurpak Less Salt butter
- Western Star salted butter
- Rich Lurpak Unsalted butter
- Beautifully Butterfully unsalted butter
Why European butter is usually better than American butter?
The churning process of European butter is usually longer, resulting in a butterfat content of more than 82%. The fermentation process of European butter is also relatively complete, and European butter usually has a rich flavor and slightly sour taste. These butter usually taste richer in taste and aroma (because they are more creamy). European butter also melts faster, so it is especially suitable for baking. U.S. butter is regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which stipulates that butter must contain at least 80% milk fat to qualify, while European butter usually has at least 82% or more. American butter usually does not contain a variety of yeasts that European butter will add, so it is relatively lacking in fermented flavor.
This is the rough difference between American butter and European butter, but in fact, there are differences between brands. In recent years, some high-end brands in the United States have begun to imitate European butter.
Why the butter in the restaurant is usually better than the butter in the supermarket or at home?
According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, the restaurant’s butter tastes better, because some restaurant chefs and employees can do a good job of quality control to ensure their Butter is kept in a high-quality environment and can be replaced quickly, so it is relatively fresh. Restaurants usually put butter in a special area that is not close to other foods to ensure that butter does not absorb the smell of other foods, while ordinary households usually have only one. Refrigerators are more difficult to achieve the same level of quality control.
What is clarified butter?
Regular butter is composed of the Composition of butterfat, milk solids, and water. Clarified butter is the translucent golden butter that remains after removing milk solids and water. In short, clarified butter is butter that only contains pure butterfat. Clarified butter has a higher smoke point than ordinary butter, so you can cook at a higher temperature, and clarified butter has a longer shelf life than butter.
What is the use of clarified butter?
Clarified butter has a higher smoke point than butter, so you can cook at a higher temperature. clarified butter is suitable for use as a dipping sauce for cooked seafood, fried fish, stir-fried vegetables, or making hollandaise sauce or other sauces. It is also very suitable for popcorn. In terms of baking, anhydrous butter can be used to bake Genovaz cakes, Madeleine cakes and other baking recipes that do not require ordinary butter. The finished product will have a unique aromatic nutty taste. Or simply melt it and spread it on bread as a snack, pour it on popcorn, or pour it on vegetables before eating. Very versatile.
How to choose a clarified butter brand? Which brands do you recommend?
According to US food content website Food Guys in 2021, anhydrous butter is the most It is best to choose grass-fed, grazing (rather than captive) cows to produce milk to ensure that the product provides the highest concentration of vitamins and fatty acids, rich flavor, and the lowest concentration of hormones and antibiotics. However, the best anhydrous butter is usually more expensive. The following are the anhydrous butter brands recommended by Food Guys in 2021:
- 4th & Heart Ghee
- Ancient organic ghee
- Carrington Farms Organic Ghee
- Bulletproof grass-fed ghee
- Organic Valley Ghee
- Spring Sunrise Organic Ghee
- Tin Star Foods Grass Fed Ghee
What is the difference between clarified butter and unsalted butter?
Both unsalted butter and anhydrous butter do not add salt during the production process, so neither will have a salty taste. However, the biggest difference between unsalted butter and anhydrous butter is that anhydrous butter (clarified butter) is heated to remove milk solids and water during the production process, leaving a translucent golden cream. In short, anhydrous butter is butter that only contains pure milk fat. Anhydrous butter has a higher smoke point than ordinary unsalted butter, so you can cook at a higher temperature, and clarified butter has a longer shelf life than butter. Anhydrous butter can be used to replace ghee or lard to make the crust more crispy and delicious. It is most commonly used to make Chinese shortcrust pastries, such as pineapple crisp and egg yolk crisp.
Can margarine replace butter for baking purposes?
When baking, if you use recipes that require “melted butter”, “melted milk margarine” can be used instead of “melted butter”. However, if you use a recipe that requires “softened butter”, using margarine may change the texture of the finished product and the dough. For example, the cake will be less soft, and the biscuits will usually spread out and be less crispy.
Is plant-based butter the same thing as margarine?
Basically yes. When it was first invented more than 150 years ago, the product was made with tallow. But since the 1950s, milk marlin or margarine has been free of animal products. Most formulas, including Country Crock’s vegetable butter, are made by emulsifying vegetable oils with water, especially soybean or cottonseed oil.
Side note: learn about oil substitute Olestra.