WHAT IS CULTURED BUTTER?
Butter is the result of agitating cream up to the point where the solids (butter) separate from the liquid (buttermilk).
Cultured butter follows the same principle, although with one very important extra step; fermentation.
We use a number of different cultures to ferment our cream, resulting in a range of complex aroma and flavour compounds. At a fundamental level though, this extra step sees bacteria convert lactose into lactic acid, which is the reason why regular non-cultured butter is known as “sweet cream” butter – it still has all of its milk sugar (lactose) intact.
HISTORICALLY, ALL BUTTER WAS CULTURED
If we were to travel back in time to a dairy house in a period before Louis Pasteur, we would be sure to find a maiden milking her cows. To make butter, she must first separate the cream from the milk, and the easiest way to do this is to allow the fresh milk to stand overnight.
By the morning, the prized cream has settled on the top (believed to be the origin of the well-wish ‘top of the morning to you’) and can be easily skimmed.
As churning is very physical, butter is not made every day. The maiden will continue to collect cream each morning until she has enough to warrant the effort. By this time, the cream has begun to ferment thanks to lactobacillus bacteria found naturally in the air, on the animals and in the milk.