The Joy of Butter!

[Bathsheba]

I'll check that YouTube video out... Ta DouDou

With vegemite and butter on toast I find that if you let the toast cool down a bit the butter doesn't soak in as much... or melt in I guess I should say... so when you spread the butter on it stays visible and you can enjoy the flavour of it much more (and I find I use a bit less too if it doesn't melt in)... I discovered that as a child and always let my toast cool a bit before I started spreading. I only do this for vegemite... jam or peanut butter I ate hotter. I also only use a small quantity of vegemite, maybe because I find it too salty... maybe the butter (unmelted) helps to counter the saltiness a bit too. Anyhow... almost cold toast for vegemite wins here!

[christy]

I miss butter..... we don't have it in our house due to dairy allergies....

I use Nuttlex now though or olive oil spread

[Nelle]

Aww Christy. Can YOU eat butter?

Lol at 'like a knife through hot butter' - you would think we'd have put two and two together hey, like it's not just a stupid meaningless saying.

I only buy cheap butter, is there really that big a difference?
As for quantities, we buy the 250g blocks and just cut off what we need for our 'dish' (tupperware sandwich keeper until I find a crockery dish that I like), and keep the rest in the fridge. Only annoying when it's been used up and someone forgets to replace it.

Another vote for butter and vegemite on fresh bread. Actually even just butter on freshly baked warm bread....mmmm....so much carbs and fat and so little caring about it.

[Ginger]

i llooooovve butter, i eat way too much of it
i buy the blocks too and just put it in a little bowl and leave it out on the bench

[Bathsheba]

The difference between block pure butter: (except for the cost... which can really vary quite significantly!)

To me it seems as if European butters are paler... some almost a cream colour...Lurpak is especially pale... still have a great flavour though. Antipodean (Oz/NZ) butters are yellower. Does anyone know why this is?

I can taste the difference when a butter is "cultured"... much nicer flavour for when I make shortbread. I can kind of tell what Bron means by Harmonie butter having a fresher flavour than most butters... but otherwise the differences aren't huge I guess Nelle.

I'd like to set up a blindfolded butter tasting. Maybe serve the same plain water crackers with several different butters and vote which one is the best. Could be interesting. Some I definitely find too salty... you'd have to compare them only if they all had salt added, reduced salt or no salt. Oh and you'd have to clean the palate between... not sure what with... I'm taking this a tad too seriously now aren't I???

[Phteven]

I think that hot tea would clean the palate well for butter tasting - mabe a sweet hot tea because the astringency and heat would clear the butter out and the swet would set the palate up again to taste the saltiness.

[Nelle]

I personally think they'd be better tested on freshly baked bread...with hot tea...anyone up for a testing day?

[AngelPunks]

Actually even just butter on freshly baked warm bread....mmmm....so much carbs and fat and so little caring about it.

oh goddess YUMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ginger]

ok......so since reading this thread i bought the lurpak brand.....and omg!!! i think i have put on 2kg since saturday! it is divine, so thank you.....NOT!!!

[Bathsheba]

LOL ok... now the next step Rainforest is to get a copy of the book "Why French Women Don't Get Fat". It will fully explain how the French, reknown for their use of butter (and chocolate and cream etc) but as a population have avoided the obesity epidemic that has swept most other Western countries. It is absolutely fascinating reading. And I have to say that I already followed most of the life-style aspects listed in the book... which is why despite loving butter (and chocolate and cream) I am not over weight. Anyhow, highly recommended. Also, one important difference between French women and Australia women when it comes to eating these types of foods is that they never eat with guilt. If you were at a cafe with your girlfriends in France (generally speaking) you would never use the words "naughty" when using butter etc. instead you would say that it's delicious and that you DESERVE it... and you would allow yourself a small bit most days (eg of chocolate) but you would only have a small bit, never a whole block, and you would also be more likely to walk it off afterwards (the French spend A LOT more time walking than us, on the whole).

So I'm not going to say that eating lots of butter won't make you fat. It will if you don't eat sensibly and respectfully. Appreciating a good quality butter, I think, is just a part of a larger philosophy of respect: for your body and of food. Just stopping to appreciate each mouthful and it's place of origin and the people that make it is part of healthy eating. I find that it's usually poor quality cheap food that people (on the whole) gorge themselves on without thinking. This thread is just a small part of re-connecting with food... and the flow-on from that I'm sure will be better health.

[mrsmac]

I like the way you think Bath!!
Its funny i should find this thread now as DS and I have just finished 4 slices of raisin toast with real butter on them! I have switched to pure butter for him as he has behavioural problems with some food additives and preservatives and I was horrified to see how many of the really bad ones were in both marg and spreadable butters.
I have been baking with real butter for ages but have only just switched for everyday.