Whether from the dairy state of Wisconsin or the steep
mountainsides of Bhutan, butters and butter makers have
plenty in common. Elaine Khosrova was a food
writer who sought the latest fad, most unusual taste, until
she was assigned to compare ten butters from around the
world. The animals of origin varied, the methods of
production, and the appearance and taste. She set off on a
quest to discover BUTTER: A RICH HISTORY.
We first see the nomadic yak herders milking the placid
shaggy yak mothers. From this prehistoric style
subsistence, which adds the saleable good of butter to the
family's life, we move to historical dairying and the
varied grazing of animals. Cattle, sheep, horses, goats,
camels, buffalo, yak, reindeer and water buffalo are all
milked; sheep and goats would have come prior to cattle.
Khosrova visited a university to discover how tough stems
are turned into a liquid with forty percent fat and high
protein. Dairy farmers expressed preference for Holstein,
the black and white milk machine, or Jersey, the fawn cream
specialist, or Brown Swiss, the toast colored calm
milker. Artisan butter or cheese makers prefer specialty
cattle and browsing or grazing.
An Irish dairy farmer explained that he kept the grass
healthy and the cows did the rest. His soft green grass is
rich in beta-carotene, producing deep yellow butter. Grain
fed cows, and sheep or goats, produce white butter. In
Normandy the regional butter is made from milk of cows
grazed near the sea, picking up salt and iodine. The heat
of India made ghee or butter oil a good way to preserve the
food, while butter was widely used in first aid by people
who did not have clean water. The Greeks and Romans
produced olive oil and goats' cheese in their warm stony
lands, but the Dutch reclaimed sandy soil from the sea and
grazed cattle to enrich the land, making ample milk for
butter and cheese. The Britons kept cattle for ploughing
rather than milking, and milked sheep or goats. While the
Celts stored butter in the bogs to keep it cool - in some
cases for thousands of years. Tibetans sculpt with butter.
We see how butter has been identified with prosperity,
fertility, women's work and with the northern Europeans'
dispute against the Italian Pope. The Plymouth settlers
brought dairying to the New World, and started a whole new
branch of the industry which was to grow to the
multi-million dollar powerhouse we see today. Indeed,
cottage cheese arose here because there was so much
buttermilk left over in Midwest dairies. We also see the
origins and contents of margarine, topical since so
much 'dairy spread' today is three percent milk fats and
the rest palm and rapeseed oil.
From basic wooden tools to modern centrifugal cream
separators, and the Iowa State Fair's sculpted butter cow,
the illustrations and photos throughout the book vividly
portray the history and charm of this essential food. I
learned a great deal from this enjoyable read, and I am sure
many lovers of history, food, social history and trivia
would find BUTTER: A RICH HISTORY an ideal Christmas
present. Many thanks to Elaine Khosrova for compiling this
treasure.
It’s a culinary catalyst, an agent of change, a gastronomic
rock star. Ubiquitous in the world’s most fabulous cuisines,
butter is boss. Here, it finally gets its due.
After traveling across three continents to stalk the modern
story of butter, award-winning food writer and former pastry
chef Elaine Khosrova serves up a story as rich, textured,
and culturally relevant as butter itself.
From its humble agrarian origins to its present-day
artisanal glory, butter has a fascinating story to tell, and
Khosrova is the perfect person to tell it. With tales about
the ancient butter bogs of Ireland, the pleasure dairies of
France, and the sacred butter sculptures of Tibet, Khosrova
details butter’s role in history, politics, economics,
nutrition, and even spirituality and art. Readers will also
find the essential collection of core butter recipes,
including beurre manié, croissants, pâte brisée, and the
only buttercream frosting anyone will ever need, as well as
practical how-tos for making various types of butter at
home--or shopping for the best.
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