Man cannot live by bread alone

I must have my butter. Here’s a whole blogpost dedicated to butter. And not just any butter, but Le Beurre Bordier.

Jean-Yves Bordier, the Genius

Jean-Yves Bordier came from a family of cheesemaker and only became a butter maker in Saint-Malo, Brittany in 1985, after taking over the creamery La Maison du Beurre created in 1927.

He rediscovered the art of kneading butter, a traditional method of the 19th century, which he kept and perfected around essential gestures of old butter dishes, which make the quality of large butters. He perfected his taping and shaping techniques and passed on his know-how to his team. Little by little, the greatest French and foreign chefs are becoming his most loyal customers.

They knead differently: Regular butter is made on a large scale, in a factory setting that produces a lot of product at high speed. Bordier has a special wooden machine (only one!) called a Malaxeur that the butter is kneaded through, at a slow speed, for a specific amount of time—kneading time depends on the season, but it can be as long as 30 minutes. They say it helps develop flavor and create a silky texture. After the Malaxeur, they use special grooved paddles to pound the butter, by hand, before forming it into the shapes requested by chefs for each individual order.

When my butter cries, it’s singing! When my butter sings, he cries!

Jean-Yves Bordier

Bordier’s butter is made with milk from free-ranging cows that graze on nutrient-rich grass in small farms in Brittany. And depending on the season, the butter looks and tastes different. Summer butter is darker yellow and more aromatic, winter butter is paler but sweeter.

Beurre de Baratte aux Algues

A sailor’s butter, it draws its intensity from seaweed and with its lovely tones of red, green and black colours becomes an obvious choice for your seafood, shellfish dishes, and packs a real “wow” factor with a cut of rare red meat.

Jean-Yves Bordier was the first to create a butter with seaweed.  This first flavoured butter in his collection came into being for a dinner amongst friends to paired with the day’s catch, a Brill fish. Thanks to Eric Lecerf, Head Chef at Joël Robuchon it became famous throughout the gourmet world.

They use seaweed gathered by the coastal fishermen in Finistère, the most westerly département in France. The seaweed is ready for harvesting after 5 months, which allows for two harvests yearly.  The movement of tides and waves allows natural haversting of the seaweed,by ripping out the older plants leaving only the young “sprouts.”

How to taste your butter

Butter is the best with toast. But according to Jean-Yves, this is the wrong way – spreading the butter around the toast.

The best way to enjoy Le Bordier butter is to put a generous dollop on the side of the toast and take a big bite off it to totally fill your mouth with the creaminess. And my God, their butter is really creamy and not greasy!

Photo credits : Le Beurre Bordier, Martin Bordier, 8Days

I bought my stash of Le Beurre Bordier from So France. There are many local gourmet grocery that can delivery it to you these days. Remember they are fresh and handmade, therefore a shorter shelf life that commercial made butter you get from your regular supermarket.