Le Beurre (butter)
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butter
Our ancestors discovered the secret of butter at the end of the fifteenth century. With it came the simple but sublime pleasures of eating dishes to which the addition of butter brought out the full depth of their flavour.
Very quickly the most demanding gastronomes started to seek out the best butters and it was in Normandy, in the Isigny terroir, that they found them.
As early as the sixteenth century, a text sang the praises of the golden shades of buttercup yellow which distinguished Isigny Ste-Mère butter. The top tables and the most prestigious households in France, from Paris to Tours and Orléans, soon sought out Isigny’s golden butter and gave it pride of place at table. Soon, its renown spread across France and Europe: it was even taken aboard ship for the conquest of the Americas!
What was the recipe for such a success?
It comes from two ingredients: a tradition of dairying and an exceptional terroir.
Our Isigny Ste-Mère AOC* butter is produced only in a small area in Normandy, between the land and the sea, guaranteeing the use of the best milk. The cows grazing on these pastures give a naturally rich milk, from which the butter develops its inimitable aromas, silky texture and colour.
It is also the result of the churning of the best Isigny creams. These creams gain their aromas and flavors during a critical step: the slow, traditionnal maturation. Cultured with lactic starters, the cream rest for 16 to 18 hours and is then churned in the greatest respect of the tradition.
This favors the formation of butter grains with a particularly homogeneous texture. The result is the distinctive sweet and creamy taste of the Isigny butter as well as its bright yellow color.
*In 1986, the Isigny Ste-Mère’s butter was officially recognize as an AOC product (Appelation d’Origine Contrôlée). This label guarantee that our products are made in a specific and defined geographic area, and so your Isigny Ste-Mère Butter can only be made in Normandy, in our Isigny AOC zone.