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BUTTER "ÉCHIRÉ"
| Extract
from "THE NEW YORK TIMES", Wednesday, January 17, 2001 By
DORIE GREENSPAN Butter With a Pedigree. Ah, the French. |
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| "The butter produced at the Échiré factory, the butter considered the gold standard by many French Chefs, is so different (read superior) from American butter"….. |
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"Admittedly,
it is possible to find high-butterfat butters in France that are
as banal as any generic brand in the United States, but that's not
what chefs cherish. For them, Beurre d' Échiré, with
a minimum of 84 percent butterfat, is la crème de la crème
because it is made as it was more than 100 years ago and tastes
as truly of the terroir, or soil, as it did then. In fact, it is
for these reasons that Beurre d'Échiré, like France's
finest wines, has appellation status, as do butters from Charentes-Poitou
and Isigny." |
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"Appellation
d'Origine Contrôlée is a designation awarded to agricultural
products whose character is dependent on the place where they are
made. For Beurre d'Échiré, which comes under the appellation
awarded to Deux-Sèvres butter, this means that the quality
of the butter is marked by the quality of the milk, which comes
from cows feeding on land no more than 25km from the small village
of Échiré".... |
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"There is no
post-production flavouring at Échiré. The pasteurised
cream is allowed to rest for 16 to 18 hours after natural ferments,
which are cultivated at the factory from skimmed Échiré
milk, are added, in effect turning the cream into crème fraiche,
developing its aroma and producing lactic acid. As Mr Chartier pointed
out,"The three factors that are of prime importance at this
stage are time, temperature and percentage of ferments, and they
must be exact."..... |
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"At Échiré,
the ripened cream is churned into butter in small batches in the
factory's original teak churns, then washed in water from springs
on the factory grounds. It is during this churning and washing that
the final butterfat content is determined. Since every butter contains
about 1 to 2 percent milk solids, this means that Beurre d'Échiré,
at 84 percent butterfat, is only about 15 percent water, compared
with about 19 percent in most American butters"....... |
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| Extract from: Culinaria
KÖNEMANN Échiré France's premium butter |
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"The finished,
fresh Beurre d'Échiré, wrapped in gold foil in its
small basket, has a perfect consistency and its fine, nutty aroma
raises it above its numerous rivals from Charentes-Poitou, Normandy
and other régions in northern France". |
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