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One of France's oldest butter producers makes 380 tons per year [video]

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Re: One of France's oldest butter producers makes 380 tons per year [video]

#51

Post by akiselev »

spockz wrote: post #45
yamtaddle wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in a US city with a population over 2,000,000 that's seemingly incapable of producing what would be a very mediocre loaf of bread in Paris, for under $12. Actually-good bread simply cannot be had—there isn't any. One consequence of this is that it's impossible to get a decent sandwich here for anything but crazy-high prices. And don't get me started on the croissant situation. Ugh. They're all too-big and disg…

I have been to the USA only twice, to San Francisco and to New York, and the absence of flavour and substance in the food is what really stuck with me. Everything was so bland and generic and non filling. The two only exceptions were a cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory, and a chowder in some small fish shop. And the latter only because I never had it before. I can really imagine all portions being over sized and s…

It’s something that I and almost every immigrant I know struggles with. I moved to the US when I was a small child but even I’ve got tons of memories of what tomatoes and blueberries are supposed to taste like. Every household in my extended family grows a lot of their own food and I’m in the process of building out a green house around my existing hydroponics setup to extend the growing season to all year. For next year we’re debating buying a whole cow from a local rancher to split amongst the family so we can have some semblance of control over how the meat is grown.

I feel especially bad for those who immigrate from tropical countries like Costa Rica. The quality and variety of fruit there is completely insane compared to the bland trash we have in the US.

Re: One of France's oldest butter producers makes 380 tons per year [video]

#52

Post by kleinapple »

jcims wrote: post #50

I just want to dip a spoon in at every step and sample it. About two years ago I bought just about every butter at the local grocery and started sampling them. (COVID hobby i guess) and it completely changed my relationship with butter. I found a few that were clear favorites...to the point where one of them I can slice off a thin pat and just eat it neat. Butter in the abstract is loved, but somehow it has been rele…

Could you share the fruits of your labor with us?

Re: One of France's oldest butter producers makes 380 tons per year [video]

#53

Post by rhapsodic »

jcims wrote: post #50

I just want to dip a spoon in at every step and sample it. About two years ago I bought just about every butter at the local grocery and started sampling them. (COVID hobby i guess) and it completely changed my relationship with butter. I found a few that were clear favorites...to the point where one of them I can slice off a thin pat and just eat it neat. Butter in the abstract is loved, but somehow it has been rele…

Would you mind sharing which brands were your favorites?

Re: One of France's oldest butter producers makes 380 tons per year [video]

#54

Post by oppositelock »

jcims wrote: post #50

I just want to dip a spoon in at every step and sample it. About two years ago I bought just about every butter at the local grocery and started sampling them. (COVID hobby i guess) and it completely changed my relationship with butter. I found a few that were clear favorites...to the point where one of them I can slice off a thin pat and just eat it neat. Butter in the abstract is loved, but somehow it has been rele…

This really brings back memories of my childhood. I grew up on a small family farm, and all of our butter came from the cream from our own cows. Not only are there huge differences between kinds of butter, there are also huge seasonal differences between the milk produced by cows, and hence, the butter. When dandelions are in bloom, it's going to be yellower and more fragrant, and definitely more sour when the sorrel is sprouting. It was always a surprise what you'd get, even when using the same process.

Re: One of France's oldest butter producers makes 380 tons per year [video]

#55

Post by dragonwriter »

thfuran wrote: post #27
boc wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, it’s the same reason you can’t find a great mission burrito in Paris. Every city has its own food culture.

So you're suggesting that a main feature of US food culture is shit bread?

> So you’re suggesting that a main feature of US food culture is shit bread?

I don’t know if GP was suggesting it, but it absolutely unironically is. At least from the perspective of anyone who thinks of bread as a standalone element; bread as a neutral canvas for other elements is fairly central to, at least, many of the distinct American food cultures.

Re: One of France's oldest butter producers makes 380 tons per year [video]

#56

Post by sophacles »

jcims wrote: post #50

I just want to dip a spoon in at every step and sample it. About two years ago I bought just about every butter at the local grocery and started sampling them. (COVID hobby i guess) and it completely changed my relationship with butter. I found a few that were clear favorites...to the point where one of them I can slice off a thin pat and just eat it neat. Butter in the abstract is loved, but somehow it has been rele…

I remember when I first learned that butter is more than "just butter". In my case I was at the local import shop and the guy working the cheese counter offered me a sample of some cheese he was recommending. I said "oh that would be good on a slice of bread with some butter and a bit of thyme". His response was "of course, but which butter?", and proceeded to walk me through a rapid crash course in butters with samples. I remember it well because we ended up with a group we called "butter club" - a group of foodies that took turns hosting dinners and all recruited by the question "of course, but what type of butter?"

Such a fun little slice of "the world is a big place".

Re: One of France's oldest butter producers makes 380 tons per year [video]

#57

Post by renox »

spockz wrote: post #45
yamtaddle wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in a US city with a population over 2,000,000 that's seemingly incapable of producing what would be a very mediocre loaf of bread in Paris, for under $12. Actually-good bread simply cannot be had—there isn't any. One consequence of this is that it's impossible to get a decent sandwich here for anything but crazy-high prices. And don't get me started on the croissant situation. Ugh. They're all too-big and disg…

I have been to the USA only twice, to San Francisco and to New York, and the absence of flavour and substance in the food is what really stuck with me. Everything was so bland and generic and non filling. The two only exceptions were a cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory, and a chowder in some small fish shop. And the latter only because I never had it before. I can really imagine all portions being over sized and s…

Unfortunately even in France quite often a French baguette isn't so 'proper', but when it is mmmmh.

I think I'll never forget the croissant I ate around San Francisco, I had never seen such a big croissant! When you think about the amount of butter there is already in a normal croissant.. This one had probably enough calories for half a day.

Re: One of France's oldest butter producers makes 380 tons per year [video]

#58

Post by version_five »

yamtaddle wrote: post #20
xwolfi wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah the food situation in the US is pretty sad. I rmb going there in an exchange and the family dad beeming with pride "look I bought you a French baguette", and suffice to say... it was neither French nor a baguette lol. It barely qualified as food for animals.

I live in a US city with a population over 2,000,000 that's seemingly incapable of producing what would be a very mediocre loaf of bread in Paris, for under $12. Actually-good bread simply cannot be had—there isn't any. One consequence of this is that it's impossible to get a decent sandwich here for anything but crazy-high prices. And don't get me started on the croissant situation. Ugh. They're all too-big and disg…

I live in Montreal (a city with a large French influence) and am regularly in France, and there is no comparison between the bread or butter we get in Montreal vs what is available everywhere in France. If you look you can find decent bread - Montreal has the best overall bakery scene I'm aware of outside France. I haven't found good butter yet.

Re: One of France's oldest butter producers makes 380 tons per year [video]

#59

Post by ska »

version_five wrote: post #58
yamtaddle wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in a US city with a population over 2,000,000 that's seemingly incapable of producing what would be a very mediocre loaf of bread in Paris, for under $12. Actually-good bread simply cannot be had—there isn't any. One consequence of this is that it's impossible to get a decent sandwich here for anything but crazy-high prices. And don't get me started on the croissant situation. Ugh. They're all too-big and disg…

I live in Montreal (a city with a large French influence) and am regularly in France, and there is no comparison between the bread or butter we get in Montreal vs what is available everywhere in France. If you look you can find decent bread - Montreal has the best overall bakery scene I'm aware of outside France. I haven't found good butter yet.

Butter in produced in north america seems to be mostly pretty bad. I think it has a lot to do with how milk is marketed, low price is everything. So the dairies are dominated by volume-over-quality, a ton of holstiens and whatever cheapest feed can be found. Starting from there doesn't lead anywhere good, for butter or cheese.

A friend who lived there (Montreal, or maybe it was when they were in Ottawa?) told me the import duty on European butter was 300%. So you can get some good imports, but super expensive. And the local "artisinal" stuff is mostly not as good as even KerryGold but also stupid expensive, because they only compete with those imports.

Re: One of France's oldest butter producers makes 380 tons per year [video]

#60

Post by rajamaka »

pj_mukh wrote: post #18
jmcgough wrote: post #11

yesss I love Bordier, showed this to my partner recently to explain to her why I love nice imported French butters. Traveling there really made me fall in love with French food and the mentality behind a lot of it. Part of what Europe does right is its legal certification process for traditionally made foods, "protected designation of origin" ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_designation_of_origi... ). At nic…

Where do you buy this imported butter in America?! I must know.

Small specialty international stores, where everything is stupidly expensive but also stupidly delicious.
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