Annual consumption of butter in France averages 18 pounds per person. But now the French are facing a butter crisis, which could affect almost every part of the national cuisine.
From its origins as a happy accident 10,000 years ago, to its role as the centerpiece of a school "rebellion," the tabletop staple has had quite a life. A new book tells the story.
Once the province of nobles, food sculptures became the art of the people in America. Nowhere is this truer than the butter sculpture, a form that is at once familiar and impressive.
From 3,000-year-old peat bogs to 19th-century Brazil to modern foodies, the love of Irish butter has spread far. The secret to Ireland's deliciously rich, creamy butter is in its rolling green hills.
For the Japanese, Christmastime means sponge cake. But a nationwide butter shortage has led to mandatory butter rationing, forcing cake bakers to seek out substitutes.
Like Indian ghee, smen evolved as a way to keep a tasty cooking fat around for a long time. But smen is blessed with a flavor and aroma that's a lot like blue cheese.
It's not just homesteaders, hipsters and foodies getting into the hands-on pursuit. The butter-churning craze is part of a larger, do-it-yourself food movement that includes everything from canning, to making homemade bitters, a food writer says.
The biggest attraction at the annual Farm Show in Harrisburg, Pa., is always a giant, 1,000-pound sculpture crafted from butter. Once this year's show wraps up, all that beautiful butter will go right into a manure pit to become methane gas.