January 14, 2012

Just One More Reason I Love France

raw milk salt butter

This is butter.
But it isn't just any old butter.

It is golden beurre de baratte* from Normandy, impregnated with crunchy bits of sea salt and hand molded. Don't you love the cow?
It is rich and rustic, with flavors of caramel and cream.
And it is heaven.

butter label


*butter that is churned rather than blended Pin It

27 comments:

GF PATISSERIE said...

Butter and plenty of other dairy products are what surprised us the most when coming over here.
The quality is incredible compared to what we had in Canada.

So far, Echire butter is our go to product, but one of these days we shall make a road trip to Normandy.

helen tilston said...

Oh I remember when butter looked like this. Growing up in Ireland and having dairy farm my mother churned her own butter always. I also loved fresh buttermilk on butter making days.
Great image

Helen

Diane said...

Mmmmm that sounds brilliant. Diane

Nancy said...

What a sweet shape and imprint -- love the roughness of it. :)

French Girl in Seattle said...

I so miss French butter here in the US. But I occasionally splurge and agree to spend part of my son's [future] college fund on a small piece of the yummy yellow stuff imported from Normandy-- and it does not even match this one! ;-) Veronique (French Girl in Seattle)

L Vanel said...

Looks like delicious butter.

Betty Carlson said...

Have you always secretly been more oriented to butter and cream than olive oil?

(I know I have....)

Mary said...

Oh. my. goodness! I love butter. It's not like any other substance in the Universe. And this particular one.. is a work of art! Sigh.

Andi said...

You had me at butter!

Maureen said...

Australia makes some pretty good food but nothing compares to that!

deedee said...

I could pass on chocolate...but give me a warm baguette and butter like that and I'm not sure I could stop until the very last crumb was gone.

Janet said...

Agreed! France has the best butter I have ever tasted. Oh, and don't get me started on the bread or cheese. Heaven.

Jennifer said...

GF Patisserie
I agree about the quality of products here.
Hope you make it to Normandy soon. You'll love it!

helen
What wonderful memories! I had never tasted anything like this before. You're lucky to have grown up with fresh dairy butter!

Diane
It is brilliant!

Jennifer said...

Nancy
I think the cow is charming. :)

Véronique
I remember splurging on French butter once when we lived in New Orleans and when the woman at the cash register saw the price, she couldn't believe that I would spend so much money on butter. I tried to explain about the difference in flavor, but she didn't believe me.

Lucy
More than delicious...much more! :)

Jennifer said...

Betty
Cheese definitely. Butter, not so much. But now I think I've changed!!!

Mary
And its flavor is indescribably delicious!

Andi
I'm sure you're familiar with Normandy butter. Another reason to come back to the region!

Jennifer said...

Maureen
Australia has amazing food. Maybe there's a dairy somewhere making freshly churned butter? You might want to look into it...
:)

Meredith
I am exactly the same!

Janet
And the wine!

Ken Broadhurst said...

Loulou, have you been to Lessay, the town where that butter comes from? There's a beautiful church there. And nearby there's Pirou with a great old chateau.

aidan said...

and i thought nothing could beat irish butter. i do have to say that the sea salt wins me over to the french side.
aidan

Murissa said...

Amazing!
Is this easy to come across when in Paris as well?
As a cheese, wine and art/history lover, where would you say is the best place to visit in the south of France while working our way up from Florence to Paris?

Thanks,
The Wanderfull Traveler

Kate said...

So, so jealous. The butter in Brazil is....ew. I have to drive a long way to get some Presidente french butter, and it costs nearly as much as a car, and isn't even that great.

Jennifer said...

Ken
We haven't been yet, but thanks for the recommendation. There's so much here to explore!

Aidan
The sea salt butter is one of my addictions. I try not to buy it very often because I can literally eat slabs of the stuff.

Jennifer said...

Murissa
I would recommend Antibes, St. Rémy de Provence, Cassis and Arles. If you want big cities, Marseille is a wonderful place and I've never been there, but Lyon always gets fabulous recommendations. Then of course there's the Languedoc. And the Loire. Too many places to choose from!

Kate
But you do have Cachaça...
:)

I recommend you get your butt over here one of these days and I'll make sure you have pounds of delicious salt butter to enjoy.

Bad Home Cook said...

That's just WRONG (in the best sense...) I can see why so many foodies just leave for France and never come back. Can we even buy that kind of butter here? Even in NYC? Alas.

Jennifer said...

Bad Home Cook
So wrong...and yet so right! :)

Camille said...

So that's what beurre de baratte means! Thanks!

Jennifer said...

Camille
You're welcome!

Carole said...

Nice blog. If you love things French you might like to look at my post on the MS Paul Gaugin which cruises around Tahiti. http://caroleschatter.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/ms-paul-gaugin.html