Proper Butter!

A._Badger

Living_proof wrote: »

I don't eat much butter but recently bought some West Country butter I think from Aldi. I was totally put off by what appeared to be water spitting out as I tried to get it thinly on to the knife. It didn't taste great either. It's of particular disappointment when I eat so little - when I do have it I want it to taste Great!

I'm afraid the water is exactly what you get from butter salted with sea salt crystals. The finest Brittany butter does the same thing.

Aldi 's West Country equivalent is very good butter but, clearly, not everyone appreciates it.

A._Badger

Fuskercat wrote: »

Well, we've tried the Kerrygold and it was nice but still lacking that buttery hit! The quest continues....

I wonder if your sense of taste has changed? It is quite common, as people grow older (even while still relatively young), for them to lament that 'X doesn't taste the same any longer'.

The problem is that it's usually impossible to prove them wrong - or right..

thorsoak

The taste of the butter will always depend upon what the cows producing the milk are fed.

Now that cows are fed on silage and dairy nuts, the milk will almost always taste bland. I'm not a fan of Anchor butter myself but that is advertised as produced from cows that are grass-fed.

A._Badger

thorsoak wrote: »

The taste of the butter will always depend upon what the cows producing the milk are fed.

Now that cows are fed on silage and dairy nuts, the milk will almost always taste bland. I'm not a fan of Anchor butter myself but that is advertised as produced from cows that are grass-fed.

I think you may be recalling the days when Anchor was made in New Zealand. Disgracefully, the source has changed, while the packaging largely hasn't. I have no doubt that many still buy it believing it to be New Zealand butter.

Nargleblast

Look for genuine Channel Islands butter, Jersey or Guernsey. I remember having some once that was a deep golden yellow and tasted heavenly.

Fuskercat

A._Badger wrote: »

I wonder if your sense of taste has changed? It is quite common, as people grow older (even while still relatively young), for them to lament that 'X doesn't taste the same any longer'.

The problem is that it's usually impossible to prove them wrong - or right..

I did consider this...some of my tastes have certainly changed and the taste of old favourites has been changed over the years. I know buttery butter is still out there though as I've tasted it in the last couple of years, the little pats of butter in certain cafes! Wish I'd noticed who made them! Don't have much time to go to cafes now though, so could be a while before I come across a nice tasting butter there

Callie22

I like the President French butter - it has a nice lactic taste and is lovely on toast. I was brought up on Lurpak (my granny loved it and wouldn't let anything else in the house) and I used to buy that, but I just went off the taste and texture. It suddenly seemed to go quite oily and almost 'chewy', and really bland.

For really nice butter, M&S do a French one that comes in a little wooden tub and that's lovely, although it's stupidly expensive. Asda also used to do a nice butter with sea salt crystals but I haven't seen that in a while.

A._Badger

Callie22 wrote: »

I like the President French butter - it has a nice lactic taste and is lovely on toast. I was brought up on Lurpak (my granny loved it and wouldn't let anything else in the house) and I used to buy that, but I just went off the taste and texture. It suddenly seemed to go quite oily and almost 'chewy', and really bland.

I've got a hunch (and that's all it is) that Lurpak doesn't taste like it used to - but how can you ever prove something like that?

Something could easily have been changed in the methods used by the big two or three butter producers and we would never know. In fact, I suspect it has - probably at the same time as their disgraceful decision to hike prices by at least 50 per cent, while allowing the poor dairy farmers to be driven out of business!

emmbrook

We like Beurre d'Isigny - very nice flavour.

Hoipolloi

We eat sainsburys version of lurpak. Really nice.