Spend your bread only on the right kind of butter

I bought four blocks of butter from the poshest supermarket chain in the land.

Butter

It's getting a great rap at the moment, much to my delight. But of course, like everything, there's butter and there's butter.

At one end of the scale - the best end - you can buy butter churned from raw, unpasteurised cream, gathered from cows largely pasture-reared and grass-fed. It will contain neither growth hormone nor antibiotics. The benefits of this butter are numerous. At the other end of the scale (most butter out there) is the stuff made from pasteurised cream, gleaned from cows allowed minimal or no time on grass, given antibiotics and growth hormones. The benefits of this butter are - big surprise - thought to be less. In between these two extremes lie a dozen different butter stories. But how to tell what's going on? It's a tricky thing.

I bought four blocks of butter from the poshest supermarket chain in the land. Three are their own, one another brand. Block one is marked salted butter: no added preservatives, no added colourants. Well, I would hope so, that's the least I should expect. Block two is marked Ayrshire: guaranteed free from rBST hormone treatment - audited. Free from antibiotics - tested daily. Free from animal by-products in feed. Impressive. But should I then assume that block one does have growth hormone, antibiotics and animal by-products in the feed? Seems logical. Otherwise, why not tell me? Block three says organic butter: produced from cows that feed on organic feed. Okay great. But can't they tell me a little more? Is this "feed" grass? The famed, imported (and expensive) Lurpak butter says nothing. But I can't help feeling there is something rotten in the state of Denmark, because, well, it just doesn't taste as good as it used to. And of them all, it provides the least information. I'm inclined to go with good local, and save the extra dosh.

Sweet Talking

Gâteau Breton is a simple traditional recipe from Brittany which exists as a showcase for good butter. Somewhere between shortbread and cake, it is amazing just on its own but also glorious with orange-rind scented cream and cherry or other compote.

Serves perhaps eight.

You need: 225g cake flour / 250g caster sugar / 250g salted best butter, cubed / 5½ large yolks (the ½ sounds wasteful but keep reading). For the glaze: ½ a yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon water.

How: Throw everything except glaze ingredients into a processor bowl and blend briefly until just mixed (also do-able by hand, just a little messier). Spoon this mass into a 25cm loose-bottomed flan or cake tin. Smooth the top and apply the glaze with brush or fingers. It is traditional to mark the top with lines, but really not essential. Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes at 180C or until golden and cooked through. Slice and serve at room temperature.