European butters have about 82-84% fat while the average American butters tend towards 80% fat (16-18% moisture, 1-2% curds). Seems negligible? Not when trying to make American pie pastry crust with its characteristic long and short flakes with good shape-ability. With European butters, even with combined shortening+butter crusts, I have never been able to make a crust with both short and long flakes (it ends up usually being crumbly or tough) nor have flutes and decorative cut-outs that kept their shape.
Besides being a source of fats, including omega 3 (cardiovascular health), butter is the only fat that contains vitamin A (vision, growth) -- 25% RDA. It is also relatively high in vitamin D (aids calcium absorption).
On the negative side, butter contains a whole lot of cholesterol (220-260 mg/100g). Higher cholesterol consumption (in France, butter constitutes about 6% of daily cholesterol intake) had been traditionally thought to be correlated with higher cardiovascular risk and diabetes, but this has been put into question (Pimpin et al. 2015).
The word "butter" comes from Latin butyrum (Gk: bouturon), or "beef cheese". According to the French butter company Le Président, man made butter dating back to neolithic times (bout 4500 years ago) when cows were domesticated and can be found in vessels in Mesopotamia. Clarified butter (ghee) was found in India more than 3000 years ago and associated with special occasions.
Today, France is the leading producer and consumer in Europe (8.3 kg/person/year).
Butter is made from the cream skimmed from milk, which is then churned (or centrifuged), which separates it from the liquidy whey, turning the cream into a more solid mass.
The French brand Le Président also pasteurizes the cream to 72°C for about 20 sec to kill bacteria and germs, and cools the cream immediately and quickly. Once cooled, lactic acid is added to aid fermentation. After centrifuging, the butter is kneaded into shape and left to mature. The byproducts from centrifuging are sold as crème fraîche (sour cream). Some butter makers do not pasteurize, some let the milk age/mature/ferment with natural or added cultures before being churned, and in France, this is often indicated on the label (see Types of Butter)
Aside from le beurre salé (salted butter) and le beurre doux (unsalted butter), butter can be labelled as
High-quality, small-batch, farmstead butter, usually made from unpasteurized butter. Mlik is often from a specific region. Usually cultured, i.e. allowed to ferment slightly giving it a tang -- flavors can be complex reflecting local cultures. Tastes richer but are more unstable and do not last as long as pasteurized butter.
Like cru but even more select and higher in quality. Milk is usually carefully selected and often only from a single breed. Made using traditional methods, including slow churning and cultured cream. Aged or matured slightly to develop deeper flavors.
AOP (appelation d'origine protégée, "protected designation of origin") is a legal certification of authenticity or origin. Le beurre AOP is made from milk/cream from one of 5 recognized regions and has never been frozen nor does it contain additives. The 5 regions in France are Charentes Poitou, Charentes, Isigny, Deux-Sèvres, and Bresse.
The cream used for the butter is pasteurized to kill pathogens. At Président, this is 72°C for about 20 sec. Pasteurized butters are more constant in taste and keeps for 70 days.
Like the good ol' pre-industrial times. In France, there is no regulation as to what constitutes as "churned butter".
These butters are produced within a limited time window (within 72 hrs of milking, churning/centrifuging within 48 hrs), and the milk is never frozen (though 30% milk that has been frozen is allowed for le beurre fin)
Dehydrated, pasteurized butter used by professional cooks. Powdered butter is at least 99.8% fat (compared to le beurre dit "cuisinier" , i.e. so called "cooking butter" contains at least 96% fat.
Butter without whey (and hence lactose-free).
Butter used by pastry chefs for flaky pastries.
It's not the fat content that distinguishes le beurre de tourage (though often they tend towards 84% fat content), but the amount of stearic acid (long-chain saturated fatty acid) and the lower moisture content, which result in a higher melting point than the average butter (34-38°C rather than 28-34°C), and hence more pliable and easier to work with at room temperature.
Spreadable butter is made like regular butter except before kneading, the butter is melted and slowly cooled -- this process causes only part of the butter to solidify, and hence more malleable.
About 0.5-3% salt (any more than 3% would be le beurre salé, or salted butter)
Beurre allégé has 60-65% fat while beurre léger 39-41%. Starch is added as a stabilizer.
My personal favroite:
Gillot Beurre Demi-sel aux cristaux de sel de Guérande (Normandy, FR)
why: balanced proportion of clean-tasting salt crystals; not too cow-y tasting
salted butter (80% fat), sea salt crystals (2%), salt (max 1%)
calories: 725 kcal/100g
total fat: 80 g/100g (54 g saturated)
protein: 0.7g/100g
salt: 3g/100g