Butter has a rich and sometimes mystical history. Join us as Leigh shares some butter facts that include a student rebellion and buried butter. And Kim dives into the art of butter sculptures and as usual, illuminates us with a freaky food fact involving the Platypus. Well, maybe it isn’t really a food fact. We’ll let you be the judge.
Butter
The beautiful baking season is approaching and what better thing to talk about than butter? It is a core ingredient in all baking recipes but if you're interested to familiarize yourself more with this important constituent, you've arrived at the right place! Kim and Leigh are ready to take you on a wild culinary ride filled with butter history and facts.
Have you ever wondered how old this "taken for granted" ingredient is? 9,000 years. It's obvious then, that we can unveil social, religious and historical depth by viewing the path of butter from invention to today. In Old English, butter was called ‘butere’ which is translated as the fatty part of milk. It is suggested that butter might have been invented when people travelled with milk for a long time and when they reached their destination, it got converted into butter.
In Ancient times, butter was presented as offerings to pagan Gods along with mystical fairies and was an element in medicines. However, the most bizarre fact surrounding butter is that it was used for creating sacred sculptures. The first time it happened was by Buddhists in 1641 CE. Butter is still used in most of the recipes and it's a glue which holds the culinary world together. Apart from so many baking recipes, butter is a significant ingredient in white sauce pasta and chicken recipes. Much more history can be uncovered from milk products and butter. It is unusual to know how this ingredient can be used in so many practical and non-consuming ways. This speaks of the diversity and versatility of foods.
What are your thoughts on butter? Please share.
Butter Transcript
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Sources We Found Helpful for this Episode
Books We Think You’ll Enjoy Reading
Butter: A Rich History by Elaine Khosrova
The Food History Reader Primary Sources by Ken Albala
Recipes You Really Need to Try
All Butter Angel Biscuits - Pastry Chef Online
Homemade Cultured Butter - Chez Us
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Butter