If you haven’t heard, butter’s back, and it’s bringing with it plenty of new health and lifestyle trends. Americans are beginning to welcome healthy fats into their diets as a weight loss aid, and the markets are embracing this growing demand of high-quality butter with open arms.
Here are some examples of the latest butter-related trends:
Infused Butters: Restaurants have found popular ways to create signature compound butters with a mouthful of flavor by just adding staples such as herbs, vegetables and even wine to butter. This process is as simple as adding your ingredient(s) of choice, savory or sweet, to softened butter, refrigerating for a couple hours then complementing any recipe to make the dish taste gourmet without the hassle or the price.
Fat-Washing: Although the name might at first deter you, give it a chance, because you’ll be surprised how much you’ll like this flavor addition to your cocktail. According to Serious Eats, “To fat-wash your alcohol, just add a liquid like sesame oil or melted butter to a spirit at room temperature. Let it sit for a few hours, then chill everything in the fridge or freezer until the fat solidifies and can easily be skimmed off. The spirit retains the flavors of the fat even after you’ve done the skimming.” Once taste this Bacon-Infused Old-Fashioned – and spirits like it – you’ll never want a plain old cocktail again.
Buttered Coffee: By adding a pat of natural grass-fed butter to your coffee in the morning, you will get a boost of all day energy and be one of many partaking in the hottest food trends this year according to Rachel Ray and Robert Irvine of Restaurant: Impossible. Irvine also says that if you drink a cup before you work out, the fat in the coffee will help to slow the absorption of caffeine into the blood stream and keep you going longer.
Cultured Butter: Real butter sales hit a 40-year high with cultured butter surging in popularity. Cultured butter, according to Organic Valley, is an unsalted, 84% butterfat butter made by adding imported European cultures to the fresh organic cream to produce a sweeter taste. High-end restaurants and even popular franchises are making this healthy fat an essential part of menu items throughout the nation. By sales rising to 5.6 pounds of butter (25%) in the last decade, those at the American Butter Institute don’t see consumption slowing any time soon.
Smoked Butter: You’ve heard of smoked cheeses, but have you heard of smoked butter? By smoking heavy cream to right below boiling, refrigerating overnight, then churning it to create a creamy texture, you’ve infused a mild smoky characteristic into any meal. Smoked butter goes great on corn, fresh herbs and other grillable foods for a flavor you can’t resist.
