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Butter: A Rich History
It’s a culinary catalyst, an agent of change, a gastronomic rock star. Ubiquitous in the world’s most fabulous cuisines, butter is boss. Here, it finally gets its due.
After traveling across three continents to stalk the modern story of butter, award-winning food writer and former pastry chef Elaine Khosrova serves up a story as rich, textured, and culturally relevant as butter itself.
From its humble agrarian origins to its present-day artisanal glory, butter has a fascinating story to tell, and Khosrova is the perfect person to tell it. With tales about the ancient butter bogs of Ireland, the pleasure dairies of France, and the sacred butter sculptures of Tibet, Khosrova details butter’s role in history, politics, economics, nutrition, and even spirituality and art. Readers will also find the essential collection of core butter recipes, including beurre manié, croissants, pâte brisée, and the only buttercream frosting anyone will ever need, as well as practical how-tos for making various types of butter at home--or shopping for the best.
After traveling across three continents to stalk the modern story of butter, award-winning food writer and former pastry chef Elaine Khosrova serves up a story as rich, textured, and culturally relevant as butter itself.
From its humble agrarian origins to its present-day artisanal glory, butter has a fascinating story to tell, and Khosrova is the perfect person to tell it. With tales about the ancient butter bogs of Ireland, the pleasure dairies of France, and the sacred butter sculptures of Tibet, Khosrova details butter’s role in history, politics, economics, nutrition, and even spirituality and art. Readers will also find the essential collection of core butter recipes, including beurre manié, croissants, pâte brisée, and the only buttercream frosting anyone will ever need, as well as practical how-tos for making various types of butter at home--or shopping for the best.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published November 10, 2016
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November 22, 2016
Butter: A Rich History includes science, social and culinary history, far flung travel adventures, farm and factory tours, recipes(!), and mouth-watering descriptions of the various qualities of different types of butter based on how it’s made and where it comes from--factors I had never thought to consider--so I was fascinated from page one. It also sent me off to my local grocery and farm stores where I was amazed and happy to see quite a variety of butter, including a beautifully yellow and tasty slow churned butter from cows who had not been fed grain but were instead allowed to field graze. Butter has gotten a bad rap health-wise, but author Elaine Khosrova counters some of those now outdated claims. I hadn’t known there was so much to learn about butter and its history and I enjoyed finding out more about something from my everyday world that I had taken for granted. The only slight issue I had was that reading this book made me hungry...
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through the website LibraryThing. Review opinions are mine.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through the website LibraryThing. Review opinions are mine.
August 3, 2016
I love a good micro-history. I waffled about requesting this (sorry) (no, I'm not – I'm just trying not to make culinary puns all throughout), but I went ahead hoping for some fascinating details about how butter was invented/discovered, and how it has impacted history, and all the hows and whys and wherefores of it.
There was a great deal of that, of course. The first half of the book was all of that – how someone might have discovered that agitating a skin of milk would result in this wonderful substance, and how it affects the lives of those who live in areas where it is produced. "It seems hardly a coincidence that most of the dairy-rich countries producing and using butter were the same nations that broke away from the Roman Catholic Church in the sixteenth century" is one sentence from a chapter that was everything I could have asked for. Oh, and the fact that "'Top o’ the morning to you' has its origins in the dairy world".
The second half of the book, discussing the homogenization of the industry, and in fact the industrialization of the industry, started to lose my attention a bit.
Once the book reaches the present day and the author's attempt to explore the world through the flavors of its butter it definitely loses me. For those of us who don't, or can't, globe-trot, "seek out a verifiable grass-fed butter (and be prepared to pay a little extra for it!)." See, there are grocery trips when I can’t afford plain ol' Land o' Lakes, much less some artisan small batch butter from Sweden. And I have to say, the idea of a "sheepy" or "goaty" butter is not compelling. I am also not made sorry that such travel is out of my reach when the author talks about one artisan using "a salvaged container that had once held some kind of industrial product" to hold milk. There is no amount of sanitization which would make me comfortable using that container to hold consumables. None.
I was completely and utterly horrified to read how margarine was originally made, "from rendering oil from caul fat of beef". My family ate margarine in the usual – and come to find out completely misguided – attempt to cut cholesterol for decades, and for a little while there I was aghast at what we had been consuming. But we weren't: "This original animalderived margarine, by the way, was nothing like today’s version of the stuff, which is made with hardened vegetable oils." Okay. Phew. Don't bury the lead, there, ma'am. I love the quote "As for butter versus margarine, I trust cows more than chemists." And the revelation that, yeah, actually stick margarine is probably worse for you than butter is "the great tragedy of science: the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact." (Thomas Henry Huxley.) Darn those pesky facts.
I do wonder if low-fat diets have been looked at as a possible cause of autism. "Our bodies depend on fat-soluble vitamins, cholesterol, and fatty acids to run all kinds of internal systems optimally, especially in the brain; among children, this fat function is even more essential." But what do I know …
There is a considerable section of recipes at the end, which all more or less feature butter as the star (some rather less, and confusing to me), and that's always a good thing. (I'm looking forward to trying turkey cutlets sautéed in lemon and butter. I'll try almost anything sautéed in lemon and butter…)
The writing throughout is entertaining – I never thought I'd see a pun on plaque buildup as part of heart disease, or that kind of reference to Marlon Brando. (Heh.) I guess it mainly just lost me as it begins to discuss what almost amounted to a conspiracy to promote margarine and the theory of its healthiness and, once all that money and time had been spent on that, to quash the data that began to emerge that … yeah, that's not right. That's hard, if you'll pardon my pun, to swallow.
The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
There was a great deal of that, of course. The first half of the book was all of that – how someone might have discovered that agitating a skin of milk would result in this wonderful substance, and how it affects the lives of those who live in areas where it is produced. "It seems hardly a coincidence that most of the dairy-rich countries producing and using butter were the same nations that broke away from the Roman Catholic Church in the sixteenth century" is one sentence from a chapter that was everything I could have asked for. Oh, and the fact that "'Top o’ the morning to you' has its origins in the dairy world".
The second half of the book, discussing the homogenization of the industry, and in fact the industrialization of the industry, started to lose my attention a bit.
Once the book reaches the present day and the author's attempt to explore the world through the flavors of its butter it definitely loses me. For those of us who don't, or can't, globe-trot, "seek out a verifiable grass-fed butter (and be prepared to pay a little extra for it!)." See, there are grocery trips when I can’t afford plain ol' Land o' Lakes, much less some artisan small batch butter from Sweden. And I have to say, the idea of a "sheepy" or "goaty" butter is not compelling. I am also not made sorry that such travel is out of my reach when the author talks about one artisan using "a salvaged container that had once held some kind of industrial product" to hold milk. There is no amount of sanitization which would make me comfortable using that container to hold consumables. None.
I was completely and utterly horrified to read how margarine was originally made, "from rendering oil from caul fat of beef". My family ate margarine in the usual – and come to find out completely misguided – attempt to cut cholesterol for decades, and for a little while there I was aghast at what we had been consuming. But we weren't: "This original animalderived margarine, by the way, was nothing like today’s version of the stuff, which is made with hardened vegetable oils." Okay. Phew. Don't bury the lead, there, ma'am. I love the quote "As for butter versus margarine, I trust cows more than chemists." And the revelation that, yeah, actually stick margarine is probably worse for you than butter is "the great tragedy of science: the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact." (Thomas Henry Huxley.) Darn those pesky facts.
I do wonder if low-fat diets have been looked at as a possible cause of autism. "Our bodies depend on fat-soluble vitamins, cholesterol, and fatty acids to run all kinds of internal systems optimally, especially in the brain; among children, this fat function is even more essential." But what do I know …
There is a considerable section of recipes at the end, which all more or less feature butter as the star (some rather less, and confusing to me), and that's always a good thing. (I'm looking forward to trying turkey cutlets sautéed in lemon and butter. I'll try almost anything sautéed in lemon and butter…)
The writing throughout is entertaining – I never thought I'd see a pun on plaque buildup as part of heart disease, or that kind of reference to Marlon Brando. (Heh.) I guess it mainly just lost me as it begins to discuss what almost amounted to a conspiracy to promote margarine and the theory of its healthiness and, once all that money and time had been spent on that, to quash the data that began to emerge that … yeah, that's not right. That's hard, if you'll pardon my pun, to swallow.
The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
March 25, 2021
Definitely a page churner.
July 1, 2016
It's hard to not get excited about buttery: creamy, slightly salty, smooth and good with anything, butter is the magic fairy of the pantry, the wizard in our recipe books.
But who knew it had such a fascinating history to go with it? Elaine Khasrova's journey into the religious, mythological origins of the world's "edible bullion" are fascinating. Butter: A Rich History traverses any avenue that could be explored for its subject matter. Whether the curiosity lies in the different animal producers across the world, the techniques for churning, the chemical makeup and alchemical forces at work in its transformation, or the political wars waged in defense of what is mostly taken for granted in this new world of industrial groceries, there is something of interest and value for anyone who picks up this book.
Khosrova's writing is delectable; savoring the knowledge she gleaned from her interviews and research like the very original dairymaids whose faces shined proudly when the first nuggets of butter emerged from the cream in their churn. The recipes for French pastries and breads, butter tea, and ghee at the end were just a welcome bonus to the rest of this feat of a book. I'll never look at butter the same again! ....and now I wonder if all the other staples in my kitchen have as intriguing an origin as that not-at-all simple block of butter on my counter.
But who knew it had such a fascinating history to go with it? Elaine Khasrova's journey into the religious, mythological origins of the world's "edible bullion" are fascinating. Butter: A Rich History traverses any avenue that could be explored for its subject matter. Whether the curiosity lies in the different animal producers across the world, the techniques for churning, the chemical makeup and alchemical forces at work in its transformation, or the political wars waged in defense of what is mostly taken for granted in this new world of industrial groceries, there is something of interest and value for anyone who picks up this book.
Khosrova's writing is delectable; savoring the knowledge she gleaned from her interviews and research like the very original dairymaids whose faces shined proudly when the first nuggets of butter emerged from the cream in their churn. The recipes for French pastries and breads, butter tea, and ghee at the end were just a welcome bonus to the rest of this feat of a book. I'll never look at butter the same again! ....and now I wonder if all the other staples in my kitchen have as intriguing an origin as that not-at-all simple block of butter on my counter.
Shelved as 'dnf'
March 12, 2021DNF @ just over halfway
Went into this one not expecting too much so I'm not disappointed that I didn't like it or anything. I'm still getting into non-fic (read: figuring out what I like) and I only have a slight interest in food science/food history through watching Adam Ragusea's YouTube videos (which is how I found out about this). The main issue for me was that even though each chapter had a set topic, there was a lot of subject jumping within each chapter and that just didn't work very well for me. I also just wasn't all that interested in a lot of the content being discussed.
Went into this one not expecting too much so I'm not disappointed that I didn't like it or anything. I'm still getting into non-fic (read: figuring out what I like) and I only have a slight interest in food science/food history through watching Adam Ragusea's YouTube videos (which is how I found out about this). The main issue for me was that even though each chapter had a set topic, there was a lot of subject jumping within each chapter and that just didn't work very well for me. I also just wasn't all that interested in a lot of the content being discussed.
October 17, 2023
Who knew butter could be so interesting?!
April 1, 2020
There isn’t a good reason for me to be shocked by the fact that butter has a book dedicated to it, given that I have multiple books dedicated to tea and that is also a food product, but I was surprised and very intrigued. I grew up eating margarine on toast but in the past decade, my family has switched to butter and I love it. Obviously, I wanted to know more about this amazing food that goes on toast, in cookies, etc.
Butter is divided into two parts: the story of butter and recipes involving butter. The first part covers how butter is made around the world, how it has developed, and what the butter industry looks like today. It was also the reason why I went around asking my friends: “do you know that yak butter costs twice as much as cow butter in Bhutan?”
One particular chapter that I enjoyed, apart from the one on modern artisan butter, is the chapter entitled “sacred and spiritual”. It’s a chapter that looks at butter in various sacred texts and religions. I never knew how prevalent butter (and butter equivalents, such as ghee) were in various religions until now!
Part two of the book is a collection of recipes. Apart from the obvious recipe of “how to make butter”, Khorsrova has also collected a range of recipes that allow you to bake and cook with butter. Each recipe comes with a chatty preface that tells you more about the dish and what type of butter you should be using. I am honestly tempted to get a copy of this book just for this section because many of the recipes (such as the lemon curd and the scones) sound fantastic.
Overall, this is a fun book about something that I overlooked for far too long. If you’re eaten butter or you like butter or you’re just into food history, you’ll want to pick this book up.
This review was first posted at Eustea Reads (Have also added some book/butter recommendations at the blog if you like this!)
Butter is divided into two parts: the story of butter and recipes involving butter. The first part covers how butter is made around the world, how it has developed, and what the butter industry looks like today. It was also the reason why I went around asking my friends: “do you know that yak butter costs twice as much as cow butter in Bhutan?”
One particular chapter that I enjoyed, apart from the one on modern artisan butter, is the chapter entitled “sacred and spiritual”. It’s a chapter that looks at butter in various sacred texts and religions. I never knew how prevalent butter (and butter equivalents, such as ghee) were in various religions until now!
Part two of the book is a collection of recipes. Apart from the obvious recipe of “how to make butter”, Khorsrova has also collected a range of recipes that allow you to bake and cook with butter. Each recipe comes with a chatty preface that tells you more about the dish and what type of butter you should be using. I am honestly tempted to get a copy of this book just for this section because many of the recipes (such as the lemon curd and the scones) sound fantastic.
Overall, this is a fun book about something that I overlooked for far too long. If you’re eaten butter or you like butter or you’re just into food history, you’ll want to pick this book up.
This review was first posted at Eustea Reads (Have also added some book/butter recommendations at the blog if you like this!)
Read
October 25, 2020Butter on toast. Butter in cookies. Butter on eggs. Butter is a wonderful thing. However, this book on the subject was not nearly as palatable. It was sometimes too repetitive. (One should only have to read about traditional skimming and churning methods so often.) The battle between butter and margarine was probably the most interesting part of the book, with butter's chemistry coming in second. As much I wanted to know about this delicious food, I found that the writing was not incredibly engaging. So unless one really, really, cares about the history of butter, I might recommend it for its recipes in the second half of the book only. Overall, I was enlightened on my favorite ingredient's production and culture, but the reading was not particularly enjoyable.
February 19, 2017
It may seem precious to consider butter, an everyday common food enrichment we pretty much take for granted. We might see the rise of interest in artisanal and rare butters as just another foodie-fad, a preoccupation of the overly well-fed.
This book sorts through all that. It is an investigation written in a succinct, clear fashion—more of a chronology than a dramatic narrative, a straight-up guide to more complete understanding.
We discover the origins of this most universally used foodstuff, its history, its chemical makeup, the matrilineal culture that informed its production for centuries, and still does in remote India and Nepal. We learn about the varied nutritional properties of butter, and its vitamin profile may surprise some readers.
The author also details how butter came to be banished in place of margarine from millions of North American tables from the Sixties to the Nineties. And it still is, as bad ideas can be sticky long past their point of rancidity.
Lobbied by industry in the 1960s and 1970s, the FDA favoured one flawed research finding (saturated fat consumption promotes heart disease) over another (industrial foods made from edible oils reduce those risks), to the long-term detriment of public health.
Aside from fuelling poor food choices and compromised health, such regulatory decisions may have fostered a growing erosion of public trust in the institutions established to protect citizens from exactly this sort of thing.
Ms Khosrova doesn't dwell on the politics of butter banishment, however. Moreover, the pendulum is swinging back to basics in many new and exciting ways. Her coverage of various butter-making techniques in a selection of today's leading small batch artisanal dairies is a fascinating glimpse of the knowledge and craft behind the best butters made today.
The book concludes with recipes for sweet, clarified, compound butters, as well as ghee. This was reason enough for me to move it from a bedroom pleasure-reading shelf to the pantry cookbook shelf to serve as a handy reference. Julia Child would certainly approve. (Smiling)
This book sorts through all that. It is an investigation written in a succinct, clear fashion—more of a chronology than a dramatic narrative, a straight-up guide to more complete understanding.
We discover the origins of this most universally used foodstuff, its history, its chemical makeup, the matrilineal culture that informed its production for centuries, and still does in remote India and Nepal. We learn about the varied nutritional properties of butter, and its vitamin profile may surprise some readers.
The author also details how butter came to be banished in place of margarine from millions of North American tables from the Sixties to the Nineties. And it still is, as bad ideas can be sticky long past their point of rancidity.
Lobbied by industry in the 1960s and 1970s, the FDA favoured one flawed research finding (saturated fat consumption promotes heart disease) over another (industrial foods made from edible oils reduce those risks), to the long-term detriment of public health.
Aside from fuelling poor food choices and compromised health, such regulatory decisions may have fostered a growing erosion of public trust in the institutions established to protect citizens from exactly this sort of thing.
Ms Khosrova doesn't dwell on the politics of butter banishment, however. Moreover, the pendulum is swinging back to basics in many new and exciting ways. Her coverage of various butter-making techniques in a selection of today's leading small batch artisanal dairies is a fascinating glimpse of the knowledge and craft behind the best butters made today.
The book concludes with recipes for sweet, clarified, compound butters, as well as ghee. This was reason enough for me to move it from a bedroom pleasure-reading shelf to the pantry cookbook shelf to serve as a handy reference. Julia Child would certainly approve. (Smiling)
May 5, 2017
Mmmm, who wouldn't want to include real butter in their recipes! A few basic recipes using butter feature at the back of this book, but don't read it for those; read it for a fascinating compendium of facts about butter from prehistory to date.
The author wrote about food for a publication and was asked to taste test ten butters from different animals, which convinced her to go off chasing butter makers around the world. From yaks in Bhutan to Irish grazing herds, to indoor dairying in Wisconsin, and even a look at margarine, you couldn't get a more rounded picture. We see the animals which are milked - cattle, sheep, horses, goats, camels, buffalo, yak, reindeer and water buffalo. Butter is a good way of keeping the extra milk and it can be carried and traded, without needing rennet to make cheese.
As northern Europe ate butter but Italy ate olive oil and goats' cheese, it seemed unfair to some that butter - a vital source of nutrients and energy - should be included in a list of foods to abstain from during Catholic fasting. The Pope faced rebellion over this issue. As well as a symbol of dispute it was connected with women's work and with prosperity - "as fat as butter" we say in Ireland.
Butter sculpting is carried out as far apart as Tibet and Iowa, as the photos show, while hand wooden tools like dash churns and paddles are also pictured along with giant stainless steel industrial production. This is a lively and entertaining book with personal commentary by the author who visited the Bhutan mountainsides, modern dairies and science departments she describes. I'd add a plea to look at the tiny list of ingredients on 'dairy spreads' which are usually about three per cent dairy and the rest palm fat and rapeseed oil with yellow colouring.
I downloaded a copy from Net Galley and this is an unbiased review.
The author wrote about food for a publication and was asked to taste test ten butters from different animals, which convinced her to go off chasing butter makers around the world. From yaks in Bhutan to Irish grazing herds, to indoor dairying in Wisconsin, and even a look at margarine, you couldn't get a more rounded picture. We see the animals which are milked - cattle, sheep, horses, goats, camels, buffalo, yak, reindeer and water buffalo. Butter is a good way of keeping the extra milk and it can be carried and traded, without needing rennet to make cheese.
As northern Europe ate butter but Italy ate olive oil and goats' cheese, it seemed unfair to some that butter - a vital source of nutrients and energy - should be included in a list of foods to abstain from during Catholic fasting. The Pope faced rebellion over this issue. As well as a symbol of dispute it was connected with women's work and with prosperity - "as fat as butter" we say in Ireland.
Butter sculpting is carried out as far apart as Tibet and Iowa, as the photos show, while hand wooden tools like dash churns and paddles are also pictured along with giant stainless steel industrial production. This is a lively and entertaining book with personal commentary by the author who visited the Bhutan mountainsides, modern dairies and science departments she describes. I'd add a plea to look at the tiny list of ingredients on 'dairy spreads' which are usually about three per cent dairy and the rest palm fat and rapeseed oil with yellow colouring.
I downloaded a copy from Net Galley and this is an unbiased review.
February 4, 2017
I liked the chapter about how butter was sacred because it is mysterious how liquid can go to solid . Also the sour sometimes rancid product made for a tasty butter. Lots abaout Margarine too.
I also did not like the organisation of the book and felt the writing was, in places, in need of a high school English teacher!
I also did not like the organisation of the book and felt the writing was, in places, in need of a high school English teacher!
March 12, 2024
What a fun, off-the-wall book! Elaine Khosrova, the author, is so incredibly well-read about the cultural effects of butter and food as a whole. Learning about stuff like the religious contexts of butter was fascinating. Pacing and ordering kinda sucks so it left me jumping around a lot when making sense of the all the parts of the chapters. Would recommend to: all the (micro)bio girlies, history buffs, food enthusiasts, and anyone who likes to stock up on trivia knowledge.
April 21, 2023
This was an unexpectedly wonderful read. So many things- The history, the process, the purpose of butter... I've learned so much and it also reinforced my continued distrust of the government. Now, excuse me whilst I go make my own butter now.
November 14, 2016
One of my favorite kinds of non-fiction book to read is the book that explores the history of a particular thing: from clothes to chairs, customs to countries. Food history has begun to get its due with books like Mark Kurlansky's Salt, and now Elaine Khosrova's Butter: A Rich History. A what a history it has! This seemingly simple and ubiquitous kitchen staple has a complex and fascinating story to tell, and Khosrova tells it in a well-researched and engaging style.
Butter explores early domesticated animals across the world from cows to yaks and how different cultures across the globe see milk and butter. If you've ever wondered how an animal can eat green grass and its' white milk produce yellow butter this is the place to go for an answer. Butter sculpting didn't start with county fairs in Iowa and Ohio, but with ancient Tibetan Buddhism. How many other foods can claim the mystical, artistic, symbolic, and economic importance that butter can?
I was especially interested in reading about the cultural history of butter in terms of its economics and gender roles. Apparently for centuries butter was a divisive topic across much of Europe: Greeks and Italians used olive oil where others used butter and when they wanted to insult someone they called them a "butter-eater" (a barbarian). Khosrova explores the importance of butter and other dairy products for women (the iconic dairymaids) as a way to have a measure of respect and financial independence.
A fun addition to the book is an appendix listing the word "butter" in languages across the globe. And, as an added bonus, Butter includes a section with some "greatest hits" recipes centering around butter. I'm a terrible cook, but even I am inspired to try out some of these tasty sounding treats: Buttermilk Scones, Butterscotch Pudding, Easy Buttercream Frosting, Best-Ever Crumb Cake- the recipes alone should make you want to pick up this book! Everyone will enjoy the rich history and lore, physics and chemistry, past and present that is the fascinating story of Butter.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
For my full book review, go to:
http://bookwyrmreader.blogspot.com/20...
Butter explores early domesticated animals across the world from cows to yaks and how different cultures across the globe see milk and butter. If you've ever wondered how an animal can eat green grass and its' white milk produce yellow butter this is the place to go for an answer. Butter sculpting didn't start with county fairs in Iowa and Ohio, but with ancient Tibetan Buddhism. How many other foods can claim the mystical, artistic, symbolic, and economic importance that butter can?
I was especially interested in reading about the cultural history of butter in terms of its economics and gender roles. Apparently for centuries butter was a divisive topic across much of Europe: Greeks and Italians used olive oil where others used butter and when they wanted to insult someone they called them a "butter-eater" (a barbarian). Khosrova explores the importance of butter and other dairy products for women (the iconic dairymaids) as a way to have a measure of respect and financial independence.
A fun addition to the book is an appendix listing the word "butter" in languages across the globe. And, as an added bonus, Butter includes a section with some "greatest hits" recipes centering around butter. I'm a terrible cook, but even I am inspired to try out some of these tasty sounding treats: Buttermilk Scones, Butterscotch Pudding, Easy Buttercream Frosting, Best-Ever Crumb Cake- the recipes alone should make you want to pick up this book! Everyone will enjoy the rich history and lore, physics and chemistry, past and present that is the fascinating story of Butter.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
For my full book review, go to:
http://bookwyrmreader.blogspot.com/20...
June 9, 2017
You'd think a book about the history of butter would be boring and dumb, but this wasn't. Khosrova, a food magazine founder with a degree in food and nutrition, walks the reader through the history of butter, not only the cow butter we're so familiar with, but yak, goat, water buffalo, and sheep butter as well. She discusses the chemistry involved (lightly, it won't make you crosseyed), and travels the globe to discover ancient butter techniques from those who still practice them, whether in Tibet or India or Wisconsin. She discusses the difference between standard 80% fat butter and the "artisanal" European standard of 82%; of course when I saw it in the grocery store I had to buy some. It's - well, creamier as expected. Since, really, the history of butter is rather short (she doesn't go into using it on burns, or using it on green cheese to form a rind), she spends time discussing the power of butter in food, the continuing debate over whether margarine or butter is an actual culprit in heart disease, and includes a number of recipes at the end that are some of the most common and delectable uses for butter. If you're into the chemistry of food, this is a good book. If you're a foodie who wants to be knowledgeable and cook well, this is a good book. If you have no blanking idea what ghee is, this is a good book. But as far as just reading it for general knowledge, it's a little ho-hum. There are more intriguing books on the history of foods out there.
July 10, 2016
Read my full review on my blog at Mystereity Reviews.
A few months ago, I had the opportunity to read and review a cookbook that recommended using a high fat butter. While that book went into a little bit of detail on what constituted high fat butter, I realized I still had a lot of questions after a discussion on my review about how to find high fat butter. So when I requested this book, I hoped to learn more about how to choose a good butter for baking and got a whole lot more.
Butter: A Rich History, by Elaine Khosrova, explores not only the mechanics of making butter, but also the sociological, biological and the cultural aspects of butter and answered questions I didn't even know I had, from which cows give the richest milk to the best way to store butter. The recipes included in the book sound delicious and look easy to make and I can't wait to give a few of the recipes a try.
Overall, Butter is a very well researched and entertaining book that will make you better appreciate the rich, thick, creamy slab of butter you slather on your toast.
Thank you to Algonquin Books for the ARC to read in exchange for my honest review
A few months ago, I had the opportunity to read and review a cookbook that recommended using a high fat butter. While that book went into a little bit of detail on what constituted high fat butter, I realized I still had a lot of questions after a discussion on my review about how to find high fat butter. So when I requested this book, I hoped to learn more about how to choose a good butter for baking and got a whole lot more.
Butter: A Rich History, by Elaine Khosrova, explores not only the mechanics of making butter, but also the sociological, biological and the cultural aspects of butter and answered questions I didn't even know I had, from which cows give the richest milk to the best way to store butter. The recipes included in the book sound delicious and look easy to make and I can't wait to give a few of the recipes a try.
Overall, Butter is a very well researched and entertaining book that will make you better appreciate the rich, thick, creamy slab of butter you slather on your toast.
Thank you to Algonquin Books for the ARC to read in exchange for my honest review
May 23, 2016
Particularly good food history examining the role of butter--Tibetan yak butter sculpting as a religious ritual, butter churning and early modern bawdy songs, Marie Antoinette's Trianon milking parlor, the household importance of "butter and egg money," oleo and little coloring packets, modern pasteurization and production, EU PDO restrictions, the Iowa State Fair sculpture of a cow, springhouses, Reformation resentments in Northern Europe over Lenten restrictions on butter (you southerners have olive oil!), hipster artisan butter and the debates over the role of butter in a healthy diet. Lively, detailed without being overly technical, and written by a trained chef and dietitian, this would be a great World of Food book.
May 16, 2017
Artisanal butter may be the latest foodie trend, but the familiar yellow stick from the supermarket has a worthy backstory as well. Food writer Elaine Khosrova celebrates it all in Butter: A Rich History. From the economic importance of milkmaids in pre-industrial Europe to the role of dietary fats in bringing about the Reformation, all the way to profiles of modern butter crafters and classic recipes that feature butter as a main ingredient, Khosrova covers butter’s history, science and lore in a friendly, conversational style. She even explains how cows’ digestive systems transform grass into butterfat. Delightful reading for sophisticated food enthusiasts and those who enjoy microhistories. (Amy B.)
May 29, 2017
I am suspicious of most things foodie these days, so would not have picked this up myself. But it came with an enthusiastic recommendation from the Spousal Unit, and I'm glad it did.
Part travelogue, part recipe, chemistry & history book with a healthy splash of feminism, it's a well-rounded title. Like any good food title, parts of it will make you hungry.
I was a little underwhelmed by some of the travel bits -- they came across a bit self-impressed:
"Ooo, look at me, wandering into a quaint Irish kitchen as I sample some delicious sweet cream butter that I, me, myself thoroughly enjoyed, did I."
I did like the visit to the Himalayas that framed the narrative, which was more about the process / history of yak butter than the author.
Part travelogue, part recipe, chemistry & history book with a healthy splash of feminism, it's a well-rounded title. Like any good food title, parts of it will make you hungry.
I was a little underwhelmed by some of the travel bits -- they came across a bit self-impressed:
"Ooo, look at me, wandering into a quaint Irish kitchen as I sample some delicious sweet cream butter that I, me, myself thoroughly enjoyed, did I."
I did like the visit to the Himalayas that framed the narrative, which was more about the process / history of yak butter than the author.
December 1, 2016
Butter - Yum! What's not to like? Butter: A Rich History by Elaine Khosrova is a book about, well, butter. A book about butter perhaps does not have the same wide appeal as butter itself, but for foodies, it absolutely does. This book is structured in two main parts - The Story and The Recipes. The book packs in a lot of information, but in an easy to read package. The author's humor evident in the subtitle of the book carries through the book.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2016....
Reviewed based on a publisher’s galley received through NetGalley.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2016....
Reviewed based on a publisher’s galley received through NetGalley.
December 2, 2018
Parts of this were really interesting, but there’s just not enough here for a whole book. Half of the book is actually about butter; the rest is recipes that use butter, which are — uh. Not exactly in short supply in my other recipe books, you know? (The recipes that tell you how to MAKE butter are, on the other hand, pretty interesting.) But basically it felt like the author ran out of material before she had a full book and decided to pad it out with recipes. Honestly you’d probably get every part of this that’s actually worth having from the episode of Gastropod based on it.
This did make me determined to branch out and try new butters, though. (And maybe to make my own.)
This did make me determined to branch out and try new butters, though. (And maybe to make my own.)
November 27, 2016
This book is just delightful. Who knew that I could be so engrossed in an entire book about butter?! (Well, maybe I should have guessed since I've read similar books about eggs, salt, etc. but I digress...) Part history, part anthropological study, part cookbook, part love song - all to the sweet substance that is butter. In addition to being fascinating and drool-inducing, it is beautifully written. A++
December 13, 2016
This book is dull, but I would have finished it except that I saw the phrase "vote our values" used to describe buying locally-produced butter.
November 3, 2020
Butter: lass uns darüber sprechen.
Truth: I'm not really the right reader for this. The last time I bought butter was more than a year ago, to bake thank-you brownies for a friend; the time before that was...was...probably a very long time ago? I'm not sure. I definitely lived on a different continent. It's not that I haven't eaten butter in all that time, but as a rule it's not something that features (or...exists...) in my fridge. I don't think about butter. I don't think about what makes a good butter or a bad butter. This book almost makes me want to go seek out some fancy, local, flavourful butter just to see if I can taste the difference, but realistically—when was the last time I spread even bland big-box grocery butter on bread? I'd rather see if I can find some gjetost.
But Khosrova does think about butter. With a background in food science, pastry, and test kitchens, she dives deep into the history and contemporary tastes of butter: how it is and was made and stored and tweaked; the eternal butter vs. margarine fight; what makes a butter good or bad or artisanal.
I helped churn butter as a child at pioneer camp (I don't remember what it was actually called, but we fed chickens and ran around in prairie dresses and pretended to die of diphtheria), but that was a simple affair, far from some of the processes described here. Salt features far more heavily than I would have imagined:
In the mid-1800s, about a half pound of salt to ten pounds of butter was a fairly average proportion for butter that was to be promptly eaten. (That's about three times as much salt as in most commercial butters today.) If the butter was to be preserved for several months, salt was added aggressively, rendering the butter virtually inedible. For this reason, preserved butter was treated much like salted fish—repeatedly soaked and rinsed in cool water to draw off much of the salt before eating. (73)
Washing butter! Things that never would have occurred to me. Other things that never would have occurred to me include butter as a preservative:
Salted butter was also an important tool for preserving other foods for the winter pantry. In households that could afford it, butter was lavishly spread over cooked food as a seal to prevent spoilage. Sweet and savory pies were topped with a thick veneer of melted butter. With butter acting as a barrier, foods could keep for several weeks or months. (57)
And also the idea of 'renovated' butter, or rancid/dirty butter that had been (theoretically) scrubbed clean of its impurities but in practice was...well...well. This says it all, I think:
Apparently much of it was sold to England around the turn of the century, which earned all American butter a bad reputation and caused the English to seek out Canadian butter imports. (85)
It's a shorter story than the heft of the book would have you think, because a large portion of the book is devoted to butter-heavy recipes. (I skimmed that portion, as even if I were inclined to cook with butter, my 1970s German oven has a temperature gauge that ranges from 'chicken' to 'loaf of bread' and eschews numbers entirely, and I still don't understand it well enough to attempt anything like baking.) It's a good mix of history and modernity, though; I couldn't decide whether I found the discussion of old-school butter-making by dairy maids or contemporary quirks of butter-making (butter sculptures...where the rancid butter is reused every year...) more interesting, and Khosrova didn't make me choose.
I received a free copy of this book via a Goodreads giveaway.
Truth: I'm not really the right reader for this. The last time I bought butter was more than a year ago, to bake thank-you brownies for a friend; the time before that was...was...probably a very long time ago? I'm not sure. I definitely lived on a different continent. It's not that I haven't eaten butter in all that time, but as a rule it's not something that features (or...exists...) in my fridge. I don't think about butter. I don't think about what makes a good butter or a bad butter. This book almost makes me want to go seek out some fancy, local, flavourful butter just to see if I can taste the difference, but realistically—when was the last time I spread even bland big-box grocery butter on bread? I'd rather see if I can find some gjetost.
But Khosrova does think about butter. With a background in food science, pastry, and test kitchens, she dives deep into the history and contemporary tastes of butter: how it is and was made and stored and tweaked; the eternal butter vs. margarine fight; what makes a butter good or bad or artisanal.
I helped churn butter as a child at pioneer camp (I don't remember what it was actually called, but we fed chickens and ran around in prairie dresses and pretended to die of diphtheria), but that was a simple affair, far from some of the processes described here. Salt features far more heavily than I would have imagined:
In the mid-1800s, about a half pound of salt to ten pounds of butter was a fairly average proportion for butter that was to be promptly eaten. (That's about three times as much salt as in most commercial butters today.) If the butter was to be preserved for several months, salt was added aggressively, rendering the butter virtually inedible. For this reason, preserved butter was treated much like salted fish—repeatedly soaked and rinsed in cool water to draw off much of the salt before eating. (73)
Washing butter! Things that never would have occurred to me. Other things that never would have occurred to me include butter as a preservative:
Salted butter was also an important tool for preserving other foods for the winter pantry. In households that could afford it, butter was lavishly spread over cooked food as a seal to prevent spoilage. Sweet and savory pies were topped with a thick veneer of melted butter. With butter acting as a barrier, foods could keep for several weeks or months. (57)
And also the idea of 'renovated' butter, or rancid/dirty butter that had been (theoretically) scrubbed clean of its impurities but in practice was...well...well. This says it all, I think:
Apparently much of it was sold to England around the turn of the century, which earned all American butter a bad reputation and caused the English to seek out Canadian butter imports. (85)
It's a shorter story than the heft of the book would have you think, because a large portion of the book is devoted to butter-heavy recipes. (I skimmed that portion, as even if I were inclined to cook with butter, my 1970s German oven has a temperature gauge that ranges from 'chicken' to 'loaf of bread' and eschews numbers entirely, and I still don't understand it well enough to attempt anything like baking.) It's a good mix of history and modernity, though; I couldn't decide whether I found the discussion of old-school butter-making by dairy maids or contemporary quirks of butter-making (butter sculptures...where the rancid butter is reused every year...) more interesting, and Khosrova didn't make me choose.
I received a free copy of this book via a Goodreads giveaway.
December 8, 2019
In fact, I'd picked this book up after a recent bad experience in which my longtime favorite brand of butter failed me by suddenly tasting terrible. I opened a fresh box, right from the store, eagerly unpacking the perfect squares, only to find a sour, awful plastic taste. I had a new loaf of bread and no butter! I was horrified. I did resign myself to skipping the butter, and putting peanut butter directly on the naked toast, but that was miserable and unfamiliar and not the same at all. I'm now using a new brand of butter, thank you. I'll not endure such an experience again.
This book is okay, and there are a few interesting citations out of old European household guides about how it was part of women's work to make the butter, and of course tend the animals responsible for it. The author's own tales of eating butter in various countries and villages started to bother my germ phobia, especially her tasting water buffalo milk in Punjab where the container was some secondhand scrap on the floor that the woman was mixing her hands in. On the plus side though, I think I may try her recipe for crumb cake in the recipes section. My last crumb cake was as dry as an old sponge.
This book is okay, and there are a few interesting citations out of old European household guides about how it was part of women's work to make the butter, and of course tend the animals responsible for it. The author's own tales of eating butter in various countries and villages started to bother my germ phobia, especially her tasting water buffalo milk in Punjab where the container was some secondhand scrap on the floor that the woman was mixing her hands in. On the plus side though, I think I may try her recipe for crumb cake in the recipes section. My last crumb cake was as dry as an old sponge.
July 24, 2017
Surprised at the love for this one. I was surprised when learning the news that margarine was now considered MORE unhealthy than butter. I grew up eating it whenever I had bread/toast because supposedly butter was BAD for you. It never really bothered me but at the same time I really didn't mind when butter for bread was available at a restaurant or at someone else's house, etc.
So enter this book about butter. The history and origins, how it's made today and how that has changed, its uses (which aren't always for consumption/cooking/baking/etc. purposes!), and its place in society. The book also includes recipes and a few pictures of stuff ranging from tools to Tibetan butter carvings (!). Some of it was quite interesting to read about.
But I agree with lots of people who found the writing not so great. It's dull and while the author clearly has enthusiasm for her subject, I can't say it really transferred into making the writing more interesting for the reader. I thought my interest in the subject would sustain me but I guess my enthusiasm for the topic wore off, as quirky as it is to write about as an entire book.
It might have been better as a magazine long read. There are a bunch of recipes that take up a third of the book if you're interested. I'd skip this one or borrow from the library if you're *that* passionate about it.
So enter this book about butter. The history and origins, how it's made today and how that has changed, its uses (which aren't always for consumption/cooking/baking/etc. purposes!), and its place in society. The book also includes recipes and a few pictures of stuff ranging from tools to Tibetan butter carvings (!). Some of it was quite interesting to read about.
But I agree with lots of people who found the writing not so great. It's dull and while the author clearly has enthusiasm for her subject, I can't say it really transferred into making the writing more interesting for the reader. I thought my interest in the subject would sustain me but I guess my enthusiasm for the topic wore off, as quirky as it is to write about as an entire book.
It might have been better as a magazine long read. There are a bunch of recipes that take up a third of the book if you're interested. I'd skip this one or borrow from the library if you're *that* passionate about it.
February 8, 2019
A somewhat interesting read, but it felt like a Wikipedia article, and she could have easily said all she had to say in an article instead of a book. It was mostly just facts about butter, and I prefer my food books to be beautiful, philosophical, and moving. There are many better gastronomy writers out there!
December 25, 2020
This is the third or fourth book I've read on a very particular topic, mainly food related.
The first was Cod by Mark Kurlansky, then Salt by Kurlansky, then I read a book about eggs by Michael Ruhlman, and the most be others, but I can't think of them at the moment.
This book is in the tradition of these other fine books. Not only are they excellent reads, but are also very informative. This and Chef Ruhlman's also have the added benefit of having recipes to explore their ingredients. Additionally, Butter gives you instructions on how to make your own butter and a resource list of various types and brands of butter.
Next, I'm going to read a book about blood...not quite an ingredient, though it can be, but something that is very important to all of us, especially me because mine tried to kill me.
The first was Cod by Mark Kurlansky, then Salt by Kurlansky, then I read a book about eggs by Michael Ruhlman, and the most be others, but I can't think of them at the moment.
This book is in the tradition of these other fine books. Not only are they excellent reads, but are also very informative. This and Chef Ruhlman's also have the added benefit of having recipes to explore their ingredients. Additionally, Butter gives you instructions on how to make your own butter and a resource list of various types and brands of butter.
Next, I'm going to read a book about blood...not quite an ingredient, though it can be, but something that is very important to all of us, especially me because mine tried to kill me.
January 26, 2022
Microhistories can be hit or miss, but this one was a definite hit. So many fascinating pieces of information. So many delicious recipes in the second half of the book. While the process of making butter hasn't changed much over the years, the many different ways to do so and the different flavor profiles make for fascinating reading.
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