Butter Tasting

If you've heard of wine tastings and cheese tastings, then it won't come as much of a

surprise to learn that food tastings are now the rage. A few months ago I did a Parmesan tasting and yes, I included the grated, fluffy white stuff you find in the grocers deli counters all the way up to the real Italian stuff and locally made. Yes, we do have a locally made Parmesan cheese. Paron Cheese is on Highway #20 about a mile from the Centennial Parkway intersection (but way on top of the mountain).

Anyway, Paron Cheese came out on top with not their Parmesan but with their grated Montasio! That's right, they beat out the imported varieties. The flavours of the top Parmesans are complex, earthy, robust and rich compared to the cardboard, gritty, pasty imitations. So when I did the butter tasting last week, it was no surprise to find the unexpected results.

In Canada we’re surrounded by a sea of commercial butter made with the milk of the high yielding, low fat Holstein cows. And why not? Canadians are obsessed with hating fat, but here lies the first problem. Canadian cream is a skinny 35% compared to the European 48% and it’s the butterfat content in cream that seduces us into loving butter. So how can our butter compare when we’re starting with inferior raw ingredients?

It's hard to find a selection of butters in any area in Canada. You can find imported French butter in Quebec and Belgian butter in Ontario, but butter doesn’t seem to spread itself across the country very well. For example you’d never find a pound of British Columbia’s delicious Foothills Creamers Butter in Ontario or a Quebec Lamothe Cremerie butter in Saskatchewan. So I gathered what I could from specialty food stores in Niagara, Toronto and Buffalo and this is what the results were.

Butter Tasting Notes

These butters were tasted blind at room temperature to encourage them to release as much flavour as possible. The Ontario prices are listed for comparative purposes only. They were rated out of a 10 point scale, 10 being the highest score (scored on aroma, flavour, body and price).

Unsalted Butter

President’s Choice Normandy-style, Cultured butter, Ontario, 26% fat, $3.99, ½ lb (7.98/lb). Rated: 10

Bio Organic made by Fromagerie L’Ancetre, Quebec, 27% fat, $5.39, ½ lb ($10.78/lb) Rated: 10

Lurpak, an imported butter from Denmark, 35% fat, $3.99, ½ lb ($7.98/lb). Rated: 8

Plurga, (red wrapper) an American made European-style butter, 35% fat, $5.99/lb. Rated: 8

Organic Meadow cultured, unsalted butter from Guelph, 26% fat, $9.99/lb. Rated: 6

Life in Provence, French imported, AOC butter, 36% fat, $5.99, ½ lb ($11.98/lb). Rated: 5

Lactantia. My Country, Swiss flavoured, cultured unsalted butter, 26% fat, $5.99/lb. Rated: 4

Salted Butter

Hasting’s Whey Butter from Sterling Creamery, Sterling, Ontario, 27% fat, $6.99/lb. Rated: 10

Peller Estate Winery Butter, Ontario, $ priceless. Rated: 9

D’Isigney Burre, French imported, AOC butter, 38% far, $7.49, ½ lb ($14.98/lb). Rated: 8

For the whole butter story with detailed tasting notes, look for the January issue of Tidings Magazine or go to www.TidingsMag.com - while you're there, click on the Paris story on the right hand side and read of my amazing award winning journey to Paris this summer.