Why is butter so good

At a time when fears about it are softening, consumer views on the dangers of margarine are hardening. He responded to a challenge from ruler Napoleon III to find a cheaper alternative to butter for his troops and the poorer classes. They were the ones who colored margarine yellow, so that it looked like its more expensive cousin.

But margarine still has its place. And many versions are available today that do not include the dreaded trans fats. Here are a few factoids that got our attention:. In ancient times, Tibetans used butter sculptures known as tormas to predict the future. A holy man would drop one into boiling water to see if it floated indicating positive days ahead , or simply melted bad news.

Marie Antoinette had her own dairy built on the grounds of Versailles, so that she and her ladies-in-waiting could dress up and pretend to be milkmaids, milking cows and churning butter to amuse themselves.

Around the time of the American Revolution, the Philadelphia area was considered the US butter capital, overtaking Boston as the leading exporter.

For protection, makers would bind twigs from mountain ash trees around their milk pails and churns. Buddhist monks in monasteries located in Nepal and India create sculptures inspired by plants, animals, and stories about the Buddha out of yak butter, flour, and wax for use in religious rituals. At the Iowa State Fairgrounds, pounds of the golden fat is transformed into a life-size sculpture of a cow — an annual tradition.

Built in , the Butter Tower in Rouen, France, was reportedly financed using the donations Catholics made to the church in exchange for permission to eat butter during Lent. If you visit Humla Province in the Himalayas, be prepared: locals welcome guests and say goodbye by smearing butter on their heads three times while reciting a blessing.

Go ahead — stock your kitchen with glorious, delicious butter. Buy one for everyday use for cooking and baking, for recipes like our flavorful vanilla butter cake , and a fancier kind like an artisanal local variety or an imported one from Europe for your table to spread on your favorite foods — in moderation, of course.

Experiment with it, and whip up a batch at home when the urge strikes! Do you have a favorite way to enjoy butter, or a tip to share with Foodal readers? Please send us your comments! The staff at Foodal are not medical professionals and this article should not be construed as medical advice.

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Based near Toronto, Ontario in the small town of Paris, Michele Sponagle specializes in lifestyle subjects, especially food, travel, and health. She has written three books and contributes to many top media outlets. Her adventurous slants on food and culture have taken her to 70 countries and still counting. She has fished for king crabs in the freezing waters off the coast of Norway, and foraged for chanterelle mushrooms in the forests of Oregon. Her proudest accomplishment to date is learning to like eggs.

Earlier this year, a family member gave me a butter making kit and I love it. Using that kit brought back memories of making batches with my grandmother in North Carolina and how she used to let us grandkids shake the mason jars.

I fell for the margarine hype for a while. Butter is something that never misses in my kitchen, it basically gives kind of a magic touch to anything you eat, especially bread. Thanks for sharing. There is lots of great info and ideas here! I will be the first to say, we use butter for almost every meal we make. As long as its the real deal, it can really make a huge difference in the taste of the food, we have learned this the hard way, many times.

When I was a little kid I ate a whole pack myself, without any bread or anything, just raw. Really interesting article, I never knew it was so easy to make your own.

The one thing about the article though, I disagree about the health comments. Butter is very much like red meat in cooking. There are times when you simply must use it to get the most out of your meals, but they should be used sparingly outside of when you really need it. I love butter. So, as pie dough is baked and the butter melts, the water in the butter creates steam, trapping it in the dough and creating air pockets.

Once the dough has cooled, these air pockets become delicate layers of flaky dough. Why it matters: A perfect pie crust cradles any type of filling—from cream to fruit, chocolate to nuts. With so many advantages, it would be a shame to go without. According to the regulations, there are several types of butter and certain words are associated with precise characteristics defined by them:. It is made from unpasturised cream. This butter is often rich in taste but it is very fragile and cannot be kept very long, and so it is rarely found the word ""unpasturisedl"" is mandatory on the label.

So most butter found in stores is pasteurised. Extra-fine butter is made exclusively with pasteurised cream, never having been frozen , coming from milk collected a maximum of 72 hours beforehand, and churned in the 48h following skimming.

The term « de baratte » from the churn is reserved for butters made in a traditional churn using a batch process the creams are matured for around fifteen hours before being churned. Unsalted butter is just what it says: no salt added. Semi-salted butter contains between 0.

These lower-fat products contain more water, and some additives are used to stabilise the emulsion. They are mainly used as spreads; use in cooking is possible, for some of them, without using too high temperatures. In cooking as in pastry making, butter has no equal in its ability to enhance flavours, fix aromas, give softness, crunch and melt in the mouth character And French gastronomy is full of tips for making the best use of butter:.

This is a butter with its lactose and proteins removed , and with the particular character that it does not blacken during cooking and so is appropriate for high temperatures. Cooked in butter -yum!

Cooked in margarine — bleech! Very jealous Leslie! Hooray for everything in moderation! It is so wonderful to know that there are others out there who can enjoy the wonderful things in life like butter and mayo without totally giving up on health. Also, a great way to use up the egg yolks left over from breakfast :.

Your email address will not be published. And that, my friends, is good old-fashioned butter. Aunt Madge was a very wise woman. Melt the butter. Whizz yolks, vinegar or lemon juice, mustard and 2 tablespoons water in your food processor. Combine mayo and lemon juice in a bowl. Finely slice cabbage using a mandoline or sharp knife and a steady hand.

Toss shredded cabbage in the dressing. Serve with parsley sprinkled over, if using. The recipe is juts so easy and I love butter and egg… I love this! I think you have two typos: dairy-free — replace butter with an extra?