When I was a kid, all I had was unsalted margarine. Do you remember that stuff? I remember watching TV commercials or shows where actors appeared to slather a similar substance on toast, and I never understood why you would eat so much of something that tasted like nothing.
I still remember when I finally figured out what butter actually was. As a teenager, I ordered a brown butter pasta dish from The Old Spaghetti Factory that Blew. My. Mind. It sounds absolutely ridiculous, but I felt like Neo discovering the Matrix. What in the world had I been missing all that time? Butter? With Salt? And browned, of all the magical things? The 90s are often remembered as a golden age of society, but “I can’t believe it’s not butter?” Yikes. Just imagine how golden that decade would have been with actual butter? Hindsight is tough, and probably unfair, especially with all of the prevailing science at the time about saturated fats. Regardless of what anyone else was doing, I was sold. The first grocery item I began buying regularly on my own was butter. And I never looked back.
Today the butter selection in grocery stores is a sight to behold. Besides the baking staple of unsalted standard American butter, there are grass-fed, imported, European-style, lactose-free, and cultured varieties. Let’s focus quickly on that last one.
What is cultured butter? It's like butter on nature’s performance enhancers. You may already know how salt levels up your butter experience, but have you noticed that foods that undergo fermentation taste distinctly superior? Cheese, sourdough, miso, chocolate, and coffee all take advantage of yeasts or bacteria. These organisms convert carbohydrates into acids to survive, and fortunately for us, the fermentation outputs provide acidity, flavor, and aroma. In cultured butter, this results in a pleasant tang and nutty-ness that is incredibly satisfying.
As part of Get Cultured: Crème Fraîche & Shortcakes on Saturday June 28, participants will learn how to make cultured butter at home. Come join us and have some tasty fun! We can even reminisce about our margarine regrets together. :)
