Sunday, February 01, 2009

all you ever wanted to know (and more) about...


...butter.

Yum.

Not just on popcorn, but to enhance the flavour and/or palatability of so many other foods.

A big taste treat (there were many, to be sure) when I was a kid - was to
(1) steam slices of white bread until piping hot, soft and pliable
(2) smear one side of the bread over a cube of butter
(3) sprinkle granulated sugar on the buttered side
(4) eat it while the whole thing is still warm
(5) make another one. Or two.

Mock cinnamon roll variation: add a dash of ground cinnamon and roll the whole slice up before popping into your mouth. One or two quick bites and proceed to making more.

Mmmmmmmm. Yessssssssssss.

I learned at an early age that butter offers irresistible taste and even an oddly comforting texture. But is it good for you? It is, after all, just another form of damnable animal fat. In an attempt to counter butter health issues, I once (but just once) as an adult - made a conscious effort not to add butter to any of my food. That commitment to health lasted almost 12 months.

Guess what.
I lost weight that year.
I felt better.
Less draggy. Less heavy. Less - buttered.
Dang!

Then I took a trip to Germany and frequented many eateries. Butter (and heavy cream!) is used with abundance in German cuisine, and so immensely flavourfully that I happily fell (rather, jumped) off the No Butter Wagon. That was just too easy.
(I washed it all down with German beer...gosh but German beer is good...).

I loves me some buttah.
Is there no getting around it?

As you ponder the good and bad of rendered milk fat,
allow me to pose another butter question to you, my wee readership:
SALTED or UNSALTED?


(BTW, WebExhibits ~~~
what an informative website!
)
Whilst you're considering the butter question,
and since we're still
in the middle of the
Chinese New Year of the Ox festivities,
let's all get a bit more info on CNY, why don't we?

3 comments:

jessierose said...

UNSALTED!!! But you already knew how I feel about that.

Conn said...

as a wee one i did the same trick with butter, bread and sugar... loved the crunchy sugar on the soft bread.

SALTED! and I ALWAYS use salted even when the recipe says NO! I just like salty and sweet. I do cut the salt back by half though.

House Dreams said...

I ate a spoonful of butter and a spoonful of sugar once. (as a child!)

YUM!

I've cut out most salt.
Don't get me wrong.
I eat too much crap to cut out ALL salt.