Butter Tasting

The region of Brittany produces more butter than cheese so we’re doing a butter tasting this month. We’re tasting three different unsalted French butters — Rodolphe Le Meunier Beurre de Baratte, Beurre D’Isigny, and Échiré.

How to Do a Butter Tasting

Bring the butters to room temperature so they spread easily and so the flavors of the butters are more enhanced. If hosting a butter tasting, lay out the butters onto three plates or a cheese board. Taste each one as a group, noticing the differences of the colors, the subtleties of flavors, and the texure and mouthfeel of each.

We also suggest tasting your regular American household butter next to the French butters to really compare how special French butter is.

Pairing Ideas:
fig + butter

french breakfast radish + butter

baguette + butter

Échiré

herby — flowery — subtle tang

Échiré comes exclusively from the village of Échiré in Western France made by the same dairy founded in 1891. The cooperative dairy gets the milk from the surrounding farms in the region to ensure the cows graze on the same grasses and flowers.

Échiré is slowly churned in wooden churns giving it a soft and tender texture. This butter is beloved — 85% of the production stays within France as it’s the preferred butter for pastry chefs, chefs, and restaurants. 

Beurre d’Isigny

fresh cream — hazelnut — slight minerality

Beurre d’Isigny is made in Normandy from the milk of Normande cows, renowned for their rich, flavorful milk. What makes this butter truly flavorful is the unique terroir where the cows graze. The mild temperatures, even rainfall, and mineral-rich soil of the coastal marshes nourish the grasses, creating ideal grazing conditions. With at least 7 months of grazing each year, the cows produce milk rich in fat, protein, and iodine with a natural buttercup color.

Rodolphe Le Meunier Beurre de Baratte

creamy — rich — toasty

Beurre de Barrette is made by cheese master Rodolphe Le Meunier, a genuine Meilleur Ouvrier de France, from the milk of cows raised in the Loire Valley. Beurre de Baratte is made the old-fashioned way — made with a wooden butter churn rather than extracted with a centrifuge — and molded by hand before aging in a cheese cave. This traditional method creates a butter that’s deep yellow in color, slightly crumbly, and rich in flavor. It’s then stamped with a picture of a cow, wrapped in gold foil and sealed with a sticker bearing Le Meunier’s signature. The proximity of the butter to the aging cheese allows it to pick up some magical flavors and is our favorite at Paris Dining Club.