What Happened to the Butter?

[HoosierDaddy]

The butter in the US, to my tastebuds, is rather bland. You guys don't know what you are missing until you try some full-fat, full-on Euro butter!

Seriously though - it is rather bland. Is the butter in the US made differently than what we have here? I don't know what goes on regarding the manufacture of butter, not being a dairy expert meself.

I,too,think that "todays" US butter is bland especially compared to US butter in the '50s-60's. For some reason..not as salty(?)..or just not as full flavored(?)...and it is not near as yellow! I suppose now it is has surely become pasteurised,santitized,homogenized,and preservitized to make it chemically healthier for us all. Soon it will be cloned..with test tube donor dye artificial flavoring. Trouble IS...most US citizens,now,have no idea of true butter flavor. I suppose even this would be a tad better on a Thompson english muffin..than outa the fridge creamy vegetable oleo spread on a rice cake,ya reckon... [huh]
HD

 

[lindylady]

I would give anything to take all my Irish dairy products with me when I go abroad. The milk, the butter, it's all fantastic. I'm sorry you've been having trouble with finding good butter - it's such an important element of cookery. Especially baking. I'm sure the cookies were delicious anyway!

Oh, my grocery store happens to carry Irish butter now! It's expensive here, but I picked up some butter seasoned with garlic, herbs, and chive. Yum yum

 

[Elaina]

Well REAL Mexican is rather bland. It's the Tex-Mex that's so flavorful. I have that problem here with Greek food: it's either too lemony or not garlicky enough.

As to butter vs. oleo: I use both. I have spread from the fridge to bread, I have butter, I have oleo in sticks: veggie oil, olive oil, dairy based. I'm not espicially picky. I bake very few things with real butter, most of the time I use Blue Bonnet. Can you taste the difference? Dunno. My banana bread tastes the same to me if I use the $4 a pound stuff or the 50 cents a box stuff. (It's all in the love.) My sugar cookies came from Aunt Bert, who's not my Aunt, and a pole (and thus created by her to serve at the polish dances for a ton of people), and if you make it with butter it tastes awful.

Then of course you got the health issues of butter: my son and I love the heck out of it and the calries would make me fat, not just fluffy, so it's even worse that all the stuff I use on a day to day basis is low fat, low cholestrol and low taste.

 

[Twitch]

So DC- the District of Crime- has no butter? Stores in So. Cal. all stock it.[huh]

 

[Girl Friday]

Mmmmmmmmm... butter.

 

[Grnidwitch]

As we are on the subject of butter. On trips to the US I've noticed them giving me, in hotels and some restaurants, something that's like thick (fake) whipped cream in little pots instead of real yellow butter. Is this normal and what is it supposed to be?

It is truly butter but it's been whipped with water to make it go further and it will stay softer. At least that what I always thought it was.

 

[Haversack]

No shortage of butter whether Euro, full-fat euro style, mass-produced Ameircan, or artisianal here in San Francisco.

A couple reasons for the quality of the mass-market stuff, (MMS), is that butter must have a minimum level of butterfat in it to be butter and that is exactly what the MMS has. The butterfat in excess of the minimum is removed to be used for other products. Also, much fewer Jerseys or Guernseys are now used in commercial dairys. These two breeds of dairy cattle produce milk much richer in butterfat than do the common black&white Holstein. Holsteins dominate because they produce a greater weight and volume of milk.

Another reason for the change in flavour over the past 60 years is that the diet of most dairy heards has been modified to be as consistant as possible the year round in order to provide a consistant (non)-flavour. Used to be that Spring butter tasted the best because the cattle were eating very fresh new grass. Diet really affests the flavour of the milk. One of the reasons you don't want wild onions growing in your pastures.

Haversack.

 

[Rosie]

Some grocery stores, for what ever reason seem not to stock butter in my neighborhood either. Usually, I get some (especially for baking) from the fresh market and then freeze it so that I always have some on hand in case the baking mood strikes.

 

[Mr. Rover]

We use Presidente butter here in Taiwan..I think it's a French company. My mom loves this stuff...she brought back two of them when she went to Santo Domingo a few years ago when we were still living in New York. Needless to say, she was quite excited when she found it here in Taiwan of all places.
I love butter ads from the 30's, talking about how nutritious it is for growing boys. Quite contray to views now.

 

[carebear]

Back when the definition of being a boy was working your butt off with physical household chores and running around like an idiot outside with your friends the rest of the time that advertising was true.

Butter, especially not-"anized" to the extreme, has protein, and calcium, and fat for energy and there's probably vitamins in there as well. All the other stuff those boys ate wasn't refined to an inch of its life either.

If you are going to be a modern boy, sitting on your butt playing Nintendo and having your mom drive you the mile to school and the 6 blocks to soccer practice (assuming you still play sports), then yeah, cut back on the butter.

It's the change in lifestyle that's killing us, not the food.

 

[CanadaDoll]

Back when the definition of being a boy was working your butt off with physical household chores and running around like an idiot outside with your friends the rest of the time that advertising was true.

Butter, especially not-"anized" to the extreme, has protein, and calcium, and fat for energy and there's probably vitamins in there as well. All the other stuff those boys ate wasn't refined to an inch of its life either.

If you are going to be a modern boy, sitting on your butt playing Nintendo and having your mom drive you the mile to school and the 6 blocks to soccer practice (assuming you still play sports), then yeah, cut back on the butter.

It's the change in lifestyle that's killing us, not the food.

Hear hear!:eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[BegintheBeguine]

For carnivores only

Butter is much more expensive than margarine ($1.00 a pound) so I bought margarine the last time since I am on a strict budget. I keep one stick in the fridge and the rest in the freezer. I eat supper for breakfast and cereal for supper so I don't do much spreading anymore. My secret for baking and some other cooking is John Morrell's LARD. Blue and white box. Look for it on the bottom shelf way in the corner of the dairy case. Your family will be so grateful. Like foods used to taste. Then walk around the block.

 

[Canadave]

...Then walk around the block.

...and make an appointment with your Cardiologist!

David

 

[Slicksuit]

It's the change in lifestyle that's killing us, not the food.

I would agree with this, with one caveat: modern food is in many instances too refined, especially in terms of sugar.

It was discovered in the '60s that foods could be made more cheaply with high-fructose corn syrup, instead of regular sugar. Many convenience foods, and especially candy and soda, have this as a sweetner. Some authorities believe that these calorically-dense, ultra-sweetened foods are a major contribution to obesity and the onset of diabetes (whether juvenile or type 2).

In the same vein, I avoid that mass-market crap bread, such as Wonder, Hillbilly, Butter-top, etc...nearly any bread that comes in a plastic bag and is 70% air. What crap! Give me real bread or a nice crusty roll!

I will have to investigate for myself the butter issue. If the Euro stuff tastes better, I might just change my habit in that regard, too. Do any of our fellow European members have any brand recommendations regarding their favorite butters? I might mail-order some.

 

[Smithy]

Do any of our fellow European members have any brand recommendations regarding their favorite butters? I might mail-order some.

Danish Lurpak is rather good and you can get it in most countries, but to be honest New Zealand butter is IMHO the best in the world. There's a reason why it gets exported all over the world

 

[photobyalan]

It's the change in lifestyle that's killing us, not the food.

The change in lifestyle and the high fructose corn syrup.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Mostly, I shop in supermarkets, so have a wide variety of butter to choose. As for the corner grocery store, those few remaining, I can find butter in there, too, at least one brand, but probably not the brand I like.

I like the sweet cream butter, not the salted stuff, usually get Land O Lakes, the one with the Native American woman on the package.

I have never liked margarine, stopped using it once I moved out of my parent's house, and never believed all that hype in the 70's and 80's that margarine was better for you than butter.

karol

 

[Mr. Rover]

Danish Lurpak is rather good and you can get it in most countries, but to be honest New Zealand butter is IMHO the best in the world. There's a reason why it gets exported all over the world

I tried sme when I was in Rotorua....YUMMY STUFF!:eusa_clap

 

[Mr. Rover]

Back when the definition of being a boy was working your butt off with physical household chores and running around like an idiot outside with your friends the rest of the time that advertising was true.

Butter, especially not-"anized" to the extreme, has protein, and calcium, and fat for energy and there's probably vitamins in there as well. All the other stuff those boys ate wasn't refined to an inch of its life either.

If you are going to be a modern boy, sitting on your butt playing Nintendo and having your mom drive you the mile to school and the 6 blocks to soccer practice (assuming you still play sports), then yeah, cut back on the butter.

It's the change in lifestyle that's killing us, not the food.

That's so funny..I had a Super Nintendo and N64 when I was a kid, but we only really used it when friend's were over. Actually, I am still the same way with my XBox...I don't really sit around and just play by myself.

 

[Jovan]

It's interesting one of you mentioned "real yellow butter" because in Canada they rarely seem to colour their butter and cheese. Cultural difference I suppose.