The Scythians, a barbaric group of nomadic tribes, were the first people to make butter but they used it used chiefly for medicinal purposes. I use the word ‘barbaric’ not without admiration for them for they were no more barbaric than many of the supposedly sophisticated nations of today! They were extremely talented horsemen with a strict moral code and rigid national discipline – something practically unknown today and were, also, incredibly talented goldsmiths and jewellers. Their legal code, learned when the tribes were still living in Mesopotamia was a sophisticated one and very effective.

So important was the manufacture of butter to them, that a specific category of slaves were appointed to do only that, churn butter According to legend the slaves had their eyes removed so that nothing would distract them from churning the butter. The Scythians (image below) left Mesopotamia (current day Iran) to live in the far north of Russia. In France the Gauls were the first old Europeans to use butter for cooking, having been introduced to it by the Normans who had, in turn, learnt how to make it from the Danes.

Before butter was produced and distributed in the format we know today, it was marketed locally and produced at home. The Gauls brought it (often coloured with marigold flowers), to the markets wrapped in herbs or sorrel leaves. It would then be stored in earthernware pots and covered with salted water for preservation purposes. In time the colouring was forbidden because even in the days of the Gauls, butter’s production was regulated and, for example, could not be sold near fish stalls.  Later, the Catholic Church forbade the use of butter during Lent, unless of course a generous contribution was made to the “butter chest” which, thanks to people like the Archbishop Georges d’Ambroise provided funds to build one of the most exquisite cathedrals in France, the Rouen Cathedral. The tomb of Richard Lionheart, image below, can be found there with only his heart buried in it.

His bowels were buried inside the Chateau of Châlus-Chabrol from whose walls the crossbow bolt that killed him was fired and his bodily remains were buried next to his father at the Fontevraud Abbey. Should anyone want to visit it, he’s the one lying on top of his tomb with his name on the side.  That  his bowels, specifically, had to be at Châlus-Chabrol does seem a bit macabre but who are we to sit in judgement of those that came before us?  To say that the French don’t waste is clearly an understatement – considering how effectively Richardt Lionheart was dealt with. Unlike in Africa and Asia where butter was (and still  is) made from the milk of buffalo, camel, goats and donkeys, the French favoured cows, sheep and goats milk.  Butter, as the French know it today, has only been made in this way for a little over 100 years. Thanks, to the phylloxera that destroyed the vines in France, many devastated wine farmers had no option but to turn into dairy farmers.  Being French, they excelled at it and the first cooperative was opened in 1888 at which point pasteurization and selective breeding flourished because the Atlantic coast’s damp weather was perfect for the growth of lush vegetation so necessary for feed.

In Echiré (north east of Niort) the local inhabitants founded a cooperative in 1894 and to this day milk is collected from the local farms by their own trucks. As soon as the cream has been separated, milk ferment is added (1 to 2 %) and then left to mature, biologically, for about 18 hours (give or take a few) at 14 C.  It’s beaten in massive, strong, teak churns which then break down the membranes of the little fat globules so that the butter fat is released and coagulates into even bigger lumps which are called the butter grains.  As soon as these grains are the size of peas, the almost fat free buttermilk is drained off and whatever remains of the buttermilk is rinsed off with fresh spring water to prevent it from tasting like cheese. It’s kneaded so that the grains produce a uniform mass with approximately a 16 percent moisture content. The finished Echiré butter is wrapped in gold foil and put in its characteristic small basket – the taste of this glorious butter is unforgettable. Whilst there are dozens of incredibly good butters in France from places like Normandy, Charentes-Poitou and a many other areas -  it is the Echiré that one never forgets. Read the book, Molecular Gastronomy by Hervé This – there are a few chapters in which he deals with butter, providing fascinating information and dispelling myths and  misconceptions on the subject. Have any of you ever wondered why butter, containing at least 15% water, could seem to be a solid?  He explains it so simply, and I quote:

“Because of the crystals that increase with cooling and interlock with one another; Scraped with a knife, butter seems to soften, not because it is heated but because the crystals are separated.
To have an idea how these discoveries can be used in cooking, try testing split crystallization yourself. Melt the butter and skim off the solids as they form, just as the physical chemists did. You will then be able to manufacture your own butters by mixing proportions of solids and liquids and in this way obtain the specific texture appropriate to a particular dish.” Below our own interpretations of the French recipes and in most cases, altered them as we saw fit.

BEURRE à L’AIL (GARLIC BUTTER)

Ingredients

• 100 g butter
• 4 cloves garlic crushed
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• Olive oil
• Salt to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

• Pound garlic, parsley and zest with the butter in a mortar.
• Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste and a little olive oil to create a smooth butter.

BEURRE AU BASILIC (FRESH BASIL BUTTER)

Ingredients

• 100 g butter
• Fresh basil leaves to taste
• Olive oil
• Salt to taste
• Cayenne pepper to taste

Method

• Pound and blend as above

There are many other possibilities, like saffron (au safran), black olive (aux olives), anchovy (aux anchois), almond (d’amandes), crab or prawn (de crabe ou de cervettes), hazlenut (de noisettes), Montepellier (de Montpellier), lobster (de homard), red peppers (aux poivrons rouge) or a myriad of others.   Use your common sense, but should you require assistance, all recipes are available on request.  I recently dug out this Catalan recipe and reminded myself of a visit to Perpignon where I swore I wanted to live for the rest of my life.  One of the most astonishing deserts in Catalonia is the mei i mato (goats milk cream cheese sprinkled with honey) which requires no recipe and so to close, an unusual

TATIN D’AUBERGINES AUX POMMES

Ingredients

4 apples (golden delicious), peeled and cored & sliced into 12 pieces
2 aubergines (eggplants), peeled & thinly sliced
100 g butter
100 g sugar
1 egg yolk
Frozen flaky pastry

Method

Preheat the oven to 200

• Thaw the pastry dough.
• Melt the butter in a round non-stick baking pan and then add the sugar gradually allowing it to caramelize.
• Remove from the heat and arrange in alternative slices of apple and aubergines in a circle over the caramel on the bottom of the pan.
• Scatter small pieces of butter over this and then make a second layer of apple and eggplant.
• Place in the oven for about 15 minutes until lightly browned and roll the pastry dough over the tart.
• Brush with egg yolk and bake for 35 minutes.
• Turn upside down and serve so that the pastry forms the base.

The types of butter commonly produced in France are:

• Farmhouse butter – usually made from unpasteurized milk and naturally matured cream. Always prepared in the area of origin and under the strictest of strict hygiene controls. My absolute favourite butter.
• Pasteurized butter – this is made in factories, officially monitored and not my favourite.
• Dairy butter – also pasteurized but not good enough for the Ministry of Agriculture’s approval and is sold as table butter or cooking butter. Watch out for these.
• Sweet butter – this is made from creams with low acidity and is a fragile and uncommon butter. It does not keep well at all!
• EEC butter - this butter is purchased by the governments when too much butter is produced in Europe. It is deep-frozen for no more than a year and placed on the market when demand is high and the prices are then lower than the cheapest butter. There is nothing wrong with it except that it will not keep for more than a week.
• Imported butter – usually from Denmark or Holland, it is excellent butter and usually whiter than the French butter. The country of origin must always be indicated as this is a legal requirement.
• Restored butter – made from really bad quality cream, reblended with bicarbonate of soda for deacidification and is very rare. If you see it, avoid it.
• Salted butter – this contains about 1,5 to 2 g of butter per 100 g. It actually improves both taste and texture of the food when used in cooking.
• Regional butter – produced only in the specific regions using cream from the local dairy cows, thus preserving and ensuring distinctive flavours, textures and colours.
• Concentrated butter - again known as cooking butter and containing 96% butterfat and a low moisture content. Can be used for frying and it does not decompose at high temperatures. It keeps well.