Behind the French Menu: Beurre - Butter. Butter in French Cuisine.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Butter.

With purchases of an average of 8.00 kg per person in 2022, the French consume more butter per capita than any other country in the world. That is double the average consumption in Europe and three times that of the USA. That French dairies produce and consume some of the best butters in the world is not surprising coming from a land with over four-hundred cheeses.

I prefer butter to margarine

because I trust cows more than I trust chemists.

From: This Organic Life, 2001.

Joan Dye Gussow.

Organic food guru and author.

The three outstanding AOC/AOP butters of France

Beurre d'Isigny AOP

The AOP butter from Normandy.

The Norman farmers’ claim that their wonderful grass, and their unique cows, which came to France with the Vikings, are responsible for this special butter; they claim this butter’s peers cannot be found. This butter is distinguished by a soft texture and its strong a yellow color in the summer when the cow’s graze freely on grass. Isigny in Normandy is also home to France’ only AOP crème fraiche, three AOP Calvados apple brandies, Pays d'Auge Cider AOP; and four AOP cheeses Camembert de Normandie, Livarot, Neufchâtel, and Pont-l’Évêque.

Beurre d'Isigny

Photograph courtesy of Isigny-Ste-Mere.com

Beurre de Bresse AOP

The AOP butter from the old province of Bresse.

This butter is churned in the traditional manner, which gives it a particularly soft, supple and airy texture. The old French province of Bresse cuts through the departments of Ain and Saone-et-Loire, to the edge of the Jura bordering Switzerland. Bresse also has an AOP fresh cream, the Bress Bleu cheese, the Bleu de Gex and Comté AOP cheeses and the unique Vollaile de Bresse, the only AOP poultry in France.

Beurre de Bresse AOP

Photograph courtesy of Le Coq d’Or Dairy.

The old region of Poitou-Charente included the departments of Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres, Vienne that since Jan 1, 2016 are part of the new administrative region of Nouvelle Aquitaine.
This butter is made from pasteurized cream and then matured for at least 12 hours to develop its aroma and taste before churning. The result is butter that has a noticeable smell of fresh cream along with fruity notes. Pastry bakers particularly like Charentes-Poitou AOC/AOP butter because it melts slower than other butters, a quality that makes it the king of puff pastry. There are a number of villages with dairies where this butter is produced, and you are just as likely to see one of the village’s names on butter’s wrapping; however, to make sure the consumer knows that the butter is a real Charentes-Poitou butter also carries carry the mark of the villages where this butter is made:
Beurre de Celles-sur-Belle, Beurre de Deux-Sevres, Beurre d’Echiré, Beurre de Grand Fermage, Beurre de La Viette, Beurre de Lescure, Beurre de Montaigu. Beurre de Pamplie. Beurre de Surgères.
Also from Poitou-Charente come a Beurre Sec de Feuilletage AOP- A butter with more than 84% fat made especially for patisseries.
Apart from butter all of France’s Cognac comes from the are of Charentes-Poitou, as does the Chabichou du Poitou AOP goat’s cheese and the white and rosé aperitif Pineau des Charentes.

Charentes-Poitou AOP butter.

Photograph courtesy of QUALIGEO.EU

A fresh baguette, butter, and jam.

with a café au lait.

Can a French breakfast get any better?

Photograph courtesy of Jessica Spengler.

www.flickr.com/photos/wordridden/4550155219/

For a light-hearted story about my ordering eggs for breakfast in France

click here.

Butter is often an essential ingredient in French cuisine and for practically all French pastries. A properly made French croissant can have up to 40% butter by weight. A patisserie can use tens of kilos of butter every day.

Croissant

Photograph courtesy of Freepick.com

Breakfast in a French home will include a tartine beurré, bread, and butter, and few French chefs would dare to fry an egg in anything but butter. With so many recipes and pastries that include butter, you may wonder why the French have less heart disease and cholesterol than most other nations. Maybe, the one or two glasses of red wine that the average Frenchman and French woman drink every day does aid in the prevention of heart disease.

Over 80% of French butter comes from commercial and co-operative dairies that have large-scale production methods. In the remaining 20%, there are the many farms that produce butter on their own or work with small-scale cooperatives; that is true for French farmhouse butter and butter made with unpasteurized milk. The medium sizes dairies include the producers of France’s three AOC/AOP butters. The wide choice caters for every taste. Other farms and co-operatives specialize in sheep’s and goat’s butter; however, this post is only about cow's milk butter.

The Pan-European AOP (PDO in English) Label.

The English language version of the AOP Pan-European label is the PD0,

that stands for Protected Designation of Origin.

The color of French butter.

The color of all French butter is entirely natural and all of France’s cows will be grazing freely, some for up to for up to nine months of the year. During that time they will produce butter with a yellow tinge from the carotene in the grass and herbs. In the winter snows, the cows stay in warm barns and eat hay and fodder from the same areas where they graze in the summer. Winter fodder produces a lighter colored butter. Outside France and the European Union, a great deal of butter is colored with synthetic carotene and or other additives. France’s three AOC/AOP butters cannot rest on their laurels, they must pass regular organoleptic tests that check taste and smell.

French butter in this list

I have included those that are most often seen on French menus or on supermarket shelves. To include all French butters and butter sauces would require a separate book or two .

Baratte - Butter Churn

An old Norman Butter Churn

Photograph Courtesy of the Fondo Antiguo de la Biblioteca de la Universidad de Sevilla

https://www.flickr.com/photos/fdctsevilla/4306302734/

Butter on French Menus and in the supermarket:

Beurre à l’Ail – Garlic butter.

Beurre à la Ciboulette – A compound butter mixed with chives. (For more about compound butter, see Beurre Composé).

Beurre au Citron Verte – Lime and butter sauce. This butter sauce which apart from a small amount of garlic and black pepper is just butter and lime juice lightly heated and poured as required, over fish dishes.

Beurre Allégé – Light butter. French Beurre Allégé can have anywhere from 60-62% fa5; read the label. By law, regular butter must have at least 82% butterfat. (See Beurre Léger for even less fat).

Beurre Baratte à la Main – Hand-churned butter.

Beurre Baratte à la Main

Hand-churned butter.

Photograph courtesy of Raphaël Labbé

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ulikleafar/3045700580/

Beurre Bercy – Beurre Bercy is a Beurre Compose, a compound butter. After being prepared, it will be served cold as a condiment. This butter’s recipe includes veal or beef marrow, white wine, shallots, parsley and a touch of lemon juice. The butter will be decoratively placed on a steak or slices from a roast and allowed to melt over the meat flavoring it. Bercy, now part of the12 arrondissement was, until the beginning of the 20th Paris’s central wine market. Most of the wines that we now know as blends from Bordeaux and elsewhere got their first public tastings there as did the two other famous Bercy wine-based sauces.

Beurre Bio – Organic butter. All French organic products and produce are clearly labeled with the French AB green label, Agriculture Biologique. (See the Appendix Abbreviations. Labels and Initials: AB).

The AB logo for France’s organic products

and the

Pan-European green leaf with 13 stars

Beurre Blanc, Beurre Nantais or Beurre Blanc Nantais – A butter sauce whose creation is claimed by the city of Nantes. (See the Appendix Sauces: Beurre Blanc).

Beurre Blanc Nantais – (See Beurre Blanc).

Beurre Café de Paris – A compound butter flavored with white wine, anchovies, and herbs, especially parsley and tarragon. (See the Appendix Sauces: Sauce Beurre Café de Paris). (For more about compound butter see: Beurre Composé).

Beurre Charentes-Poitou AOP – The AOP butter from the old region of Poitou-Charentes. The butter is made from pasteurized cream and then matured for at least 12 hours to develop its aroma and taste before churning. The result is a butter with a noticeable smell of fresh cream and fruity notes. Pastry bakers particularly like Charentes-Poitou AOP butter because it melts more slowly than other butters, a quality that makes it the king of puff pastry.

The names below may be seen on packets of Charentes-Poitou butter; they indicate the name of the village or dairy where they are produced:

Beurre Celles-sur-Belle

Beurre Deux-Sèvres

Beurre Échiré

Beurre Grand Fermage

Beurre La Viette

Beurre Lescure

Beurre Montaigu

Beurre Pamplie

The old Poitou-Charentes region in southwestern France included the four departments of Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres, and Vienne and are now part of the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. (For more about AOP on French foods, see the Appendix Abbreviations, Labels and Initials: AOP).

Beurre Chivry – A compound butter blended with finely cut chives, shallots, parsley, salad burnet, chervil, tarragon, and white wine. This butter is usually served with cold hors-d'oeuvres. (For more about compound butter, see: Beurre Composé).

Beurre Citronné - A lemon flavored warm liquid butter sauce poured on fish and shellfish dishes just before serving.

Beurre Clarifié – Clarified butter. It's made by melting butter and removing the particles that rise to the surface and the solids that fall to the bottom. The remaining butter has a unique, unmistakable taste, qualities important for sauces and dishes that may be cooked at higher temperatures than regular butter.

Beurre Composé – A compound butter. Compound butters are made by mixing butter with a herb or herbs, a meat stock and or wine. These butters are served cold as condiments and allowed to melt over and flavor the dishes they are served with.

Seabass, the fish served with a Beurre Composé, a compound butter

The butter will melt slowly on the fish and add its flavor.

Photograph courtesy of Mike Fleming

www.flickr.com/photos/flem007_uk/16846920151/

Beurre Cru – Butter made from unpasteurized milk. The herds of cows, sheep, and goats that produce the milk for France's unpasteurized cheeses and butters undergo strict and uniquely successful controls of the milk they produce. Unpasteurized butter is sold fresh and should be used within one to two days. The herds of cows, sheep, and goats that produce the milk for France’s unpasteurized cheeses and butters undergo strict and uniquely successful controls of the milk they produce. No other country is willing to spend the time and manpower to control so many unpasteurized milk products. Unpasteurized butter is sold fresh and should be used within one to two days. Isigny which produces one of the three AOP butters also produces thus hand-made butter. It is made in the traditional manner, including whacking it into shape, by hand, with wooden paddles. In the UK those paddles are called Scotch hands. Why are they called Scotch Hands, I do not know? That despite being born about fifty miles from Scotland.

Beurre d'Ail – Garlic butter sauce. (See the Appendix Sauces: Sauce Beurre Aillé).

Beurre d'Anchois – A compound butter made with mashed canned or bottled anchovies, butter, and breadcrumbs. (See Beurre Composé).

Beurre d'Arachide – Peanut butter. France has local and imported peanut butter.

Beurre d'Escargot also called Beurre d'Ail – Snail butter or garlic butter sauce. Despite one of its names, this butter contains no snails and never did. (See the Appendix Sauces: Sauce Beurre Aillé).

Beurre d'Estragon – A compound butter flavored with the herb tarragon, a popular and essential part of the herb group Les Fines Herbes and Sauce Béarnaise. (See the Appendix Herbs and Spices: Les Fine Herbs and the Appendix Sauces: Sauce Béarnaise). (For more about compound butter, see Beurre Composé).

Beurre d'Isigny AOP – The AOP butter from Normandy. Their farmers claim that Normandy's excellent grass and their unique Norman cows are responsible for this special butter; they claim this butter's peers cannot be found. This butter is distinguished by its soft texture and intense yellow color in the summer. (For more about AOP and other initials on French foods, see the Appendix Abbreviations, Labels and Initials: AOP).

Beurre de Bresse AOP – The AOP butter from the old region of Bresse. This butter is churned traditionally, giving it an exceptionally soft, supple, and airy texture. The old French province of Bresse cuts through the departments of Ain and Saône-et-Loire to the edge of the Jura bordering Switzerland.

Beurre de Cacao – Cocoa butter.

Beurre Charentes-Poitou AOP – An AOP butter made from pasteurized cream. The cream is allowed to mature and develop its unique flavor before being made into butter. The name of the village or dairy where this butter is produced may also be on the packet.

Beurre de Montpellier – A butter sauce traditionally served with cold fish dishes. (See the Appendix Sauces: Sauce aux Beurre de Montpellier).

Beurre Demi-sel and Beurre Salé – Lightly salted butter and salted butter. The lightly salted variety, Beurre Demi-sel usually has 0.5% to 1.5% salt but may reach 3%, with the exact amount shown on the label. Beurre Salé may have up to 5% salt. These salted butters have 80% fat compared with sweet butters that have at least 82% fat.(See Chapter P: Pain, Tartine Beurrée).

Beurre Doux – Sweet unsalted butter.

Beurre Extra Fin - This translates as extra fine butter but it indicates butter made exclusively from pasteurized and non-frozen cream. Production must take place within 48 hours after skimming.

Beurre Fermier – Farm-made butter.

Beurre Fin – Fine butter, is made with pasteurized crème but up to 30% of the cream used in its manufacture may have been frozen.

Beurre Fondu – Melted butter; the same as beurre clarifié.

Beurre Fouetté – Whipped butter.

Beurre Léger – Reduced-fat butter. This butter has 39-41% fat. Don’t confuse this butter with Beurre Allégé which has 60-62% fat. (The amount of fat in standard butter is 82%).

Beurre Léger- Reduced-fat butter 39-41%.

Regular French butter is at least 82% fat.

Photograph courtesy of Elle & Vire

Beurre Maître d'Hôtel – A compound butter, a Beurre Composé flavored with lemon juice and parsley. (See the Appendix Sauces: Sauce Beurre Maître d’Hôtel, for Compound Butter see Beurre Composé).

Beurre Manié – This butter will not be on your menu, but it a chef may mention it. This is butter kneaded with flour that is kept in the refrigerator and used in emergencies to thicken sauces.

Beurre Meunière – A clarified butter, lemon, and parsley sauce used with fish. (See the Appendix Sauces: Sauce Meunière).

Beurre Montpellier – A compound butter served with fish dishes containing tarragon, chervil, chives, parsley, stew, watercress, shallots, egg yolks, salted anchovies and. of course, butter.

Beurre Mousseux – A butter sauce made by allowing the butter to bubble and foam on the stove. Beurre Mousseux may also be on the menu as part of the description of how a dish is served. (See the Appendix Sauces: Beurre Mousseux).

Beurre Nantais or Sauce Beurre Blanc – This butter sauce is one of France’s most famous and served with fish, seafood or vegetable dishes. The sauce is made with butter, a dry white wine, lemon, and shallots. Chefs change the percentages of the ingredients and may use white wine vinegar to suit the fish, seafood or vegetables with which the sauce is served. (See the Appendix Sauces: Sauce Beurre Blanc).

Beurre Noir – This butter sauce’s name translates as black butter though, despite that name the butter is only cooked until it is a dark brown, not black. Black butter has a strong taste and it is the classic sauce for skate, the fish, and is often prepared with added capers and or parsely. (See the Appendix Sauces: Beurre Noir).

Beurre Noisette – (See the Appendix Sauces: Sauce Beurre Noisette).

Beurre Persillé – A compound butter mixed with chopped parsley, shallots, and garlic. (See the Appendix Sauces: Sauce Beurre Persillé). (For more about compound butter, see Beurre Composé).

Beurre Pommade – A plain butter mixed and pounded to achieve the softness and consistency of a pomade. This butter spreads easily and so it may be used to cook with steak or fish rather than oil.

Beurre Pamplie AOP – A butter from the small village of Pamplie that produces Poitou-Charente AOP butter. (See Beurre Poitou-Charente).

Beurre Rouge – A butter sauce made with red wine sauce and shallots served with fish and seafood. (See the Appendix Sauces: Beurre Rouge).

Beurre Ramolli – Another name for beurre pomade, a softened butter (See Beurre Pommade).

Beurre Salé and Beurre Demi-sel – Salted butter. See Beurre Demi-sel above.

Beurre Sec – A butter that contains a minimum of 84 % fat compared with 82% for regular butter. This butter is mainly used for pâte feuilletée, the dough used for croissants, etc. American butter must by law have at least 80% fat. European, including French Butter must have at least 82% fat and this beurre sec has at least 84% fat. (See chapter C: Croissant).

Beurre Sec de Feuilletage AOP Poitou-Charente – See Beurre Poitou-Charente AOP at the beginning of this post.

Beurre Vert – A compound butter colored with the juices of vegetables such as spinach and basil. On its own, the color has little to no effect on the taste. (See the Appendix Sauces: Sauce Beurre Vert). (For more about compound butter, see Beurre Composé).

Beurre Vierge – A compound butter flavored with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

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