Health and Wellbeing

Irish Butter - A delicious and versatile food

Spread the good news Natural and delicious Irish butter is an enduring ambassador for the values of the Irish dairy industry.

Ireland has a long tradition of producing some of the best-tasting butter in the world. Naturally yellow from the carotene in grass, Irish butter has a unique depth of flavour that makes it one of our bona fide culinary treasures.

Irish butter has always had a special reputation among lovers of good food and, in recent times, has enjoyed something of a renaissance in the kitchen. With more and more people now dedicating their leisure time to home entertaining, butter is no longer just a staple of the table but an essential food ingredient. Sales of butter have increased in Ireland over the past 18 months as people increasingly recognise the old chef’s maxim that you only get out of your food what you put in. As a natural ingredient, butter adds depth of flavour in itself but also enriches other flavours in sweet and savoury dishes.

A long tradition

The Irish relationship with butter stretches back deep into pre-history, with evidence of its importance uniquely preserved in our landscape. ‘Bog butter’, sometimes two-to-three thousand years old, is frequently recovered from Irish peatlands, where it was kept in storage (and then forgotten about) by ancient Irish farmers who took advantage of the natural preservation made possible by the acidic conditions of peat. The Brehon laws also tell us just how important butter was to the diet: as a ‘summer food’ it was not just an accompaniment but, apparently, enjoyed as a meal in itself!

While Ireland today prides itself on being an open, global economy, the seeds of its first truly international trade can be traced back to the 1700s when Cork city developed as an important trading post on the Atlantic. For over a century, the Cork Butter Exchange was the largest butter market in the world and ensured Irish butter featured on tables across the Americas and West Indies.

Until relatively recently, the craft of home butter making was known in virtually every farmhouse in Ireland. The process, though simple, was also a laborious one in the pre-mechanised kitchen, a fact which may explain why this generations-old tradition disappeared quickly once creamery butter became widely available from the 1950s onward.

Modern taste

Though the process of making butter has been mechanised, the essential naturalness of the process hasn’t changed and Ireland’s co-operatives produce a number of highly regarded butters. Irish butter has also major markets across Europe and around the world, making Irish butter not just a local favourite but is among the country’s most globally recognised food product.

With the introduction of softer butter in the last decade, the Irish dairy industry has continued the trend of innovation. Softer butter contains only natural butter but uses softer summer milk fat in its production and a gentle cooling process to enhance spreadability. Always a staple of the kitchen and the dining table, Irish butter is, today, more relevant than ever to the needs of Irish families.

Cooking with butter

Butter is much preferred over its alternatives by those serious about cooking. Here are a few tips to help you get the most from it:

• Using butter to sautée vegetables can make a simple side dish a magnificent addition to any meal. Bear in mind that butter has a relatively low burning point which ensures you bring out the very best flavours when sautéeing.
• Irish butter generally has a small amount of salt added as a preservative. Unsalted or sweet butter is also available and should be your first choice when baking or cooking seafood.
• Make sure your butter is at room temperature when used for baking. Butter that’s too cold or too runny will affect the end results.

Did you know?

Stamp of approval: One of the most charming aspects of traditional butter making was the use of butter prints – carved wooden stamps, each with a distinctive design, for example a swan or a star – which the buttermaker pressed onto each tub of butter before it was sold. A form of traceability, long before such a concept existed, it meant customers could look out for an individual farm and butter-maker in the local market. Some fine examples of these intricately carved stamps can be seen on display in the National Museum of Ireland.

Nutri-Myth of the month

Myth: Butter goes off if left out of the fridge.

Fact: While butter will eventually go off, for day-to-day use, salted Irish butter can be left in a (covered) butter dish at room temperature for a few days and will still be fine to use.

 

If you have any suggestions or ideas, we would be delighted to hear from you via email at feelinggood@ndc.ie or write to us at The National Dairy Council, 28 Westland Square, Dublin 2.

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