I don’t have to rewind very far through my life to reach the days when ‘real’ butter invariably meant the supermarket own-brand blocks my mum used for baking. Occasionally we had Lurpak: a cold, pale, sliceable and hard luxury reserved for sale days and holidays, but our daily spread – the one which graced our table day and night, ready for toast or tatties – was either I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter (we couldn’t) or Utterly Butterly (it wasn’t), depending on the best deal.
My first real butter was at the Hook and Son dairy farm in Sussex. Pressing a cool, paper-wrapped cylinder in my hand, Steve Hook urged us to head to the first bakers we could and tuck into it. ‘The fresher, the better,’ he cried over the sounds of our screeching wheels as we left the car park in search of a baguette. It was extraordinary – far superior to any ‘butter’ I had tasted (or dreamed of tasting). It was the work of Steve’s beloved herd of Holstein Friesian cows who feast on organic pastures and homemade silage, and whose whole, raw milk cream had been skimmed off, hand-churned and blended with Halen Môn Anglesey sea salt.
I’ve never gone back – at least, not willingly. Like farmhouse cheese, the artisan butter scene is flourishing in dairies across Britain. Chefs have their favourites. Some even make their own. But if, like me, you find this brave new world butter somewhat baffling, here’s a comprehensive guide to the scene.