Taste Europe | Butter of France Shares Cookbook Authors Tips for Using European Butter This Holiday Season

Variations on the Mother Sauces Boost the Taste Quotient in any Dish

NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Butter will undoubtedly be on everyone's lips this holiday season as Statista reports that cooking and baking are the most popular activities in the U.S. (as of September 2023). "The holidays offer an opportunity to entertain friends and family at home, and to bring a little more indulgence to home-cooked meals," says Charles Duque, Managing Director of the Americas for the French Dairy Board, adding, "French butter is the key ingredient not just to pies and mashed potatoes but to the sauces that grace everything from the turkey to the side dishes and lavish brunch buffets." 

Tasteurope.com recently shared how to make the 5 mother sauces easily. During the holidays home cooks can use those classic mother sauces as a base to top a wide variety of dishes. According to James Peterson the James Beard Award–winning food writer who has authored more than 15 books, including Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making now in its fourth edition, "Mother sauces offer a base from which to derive any number of derivative sauces: adding cream to béchamel creates cream sauce; adding tomato to béarnaise creates Choron sauce; and any number of ingredients added to a basic mayonnaise produce an almost unlimited number of variations." 

"If you want your sauces to have another dimension--a je ne sais quoi—use French butter—as it is made from cultured milk," shares Peterson, "If you're making a clear brown or white sauce, you may want to finish it with unsalted butter. Always add the butter cold and keep whisking until it's incorporated into the sauce." The flavor from cultured butter and the higher butterfat, a minimum of 82% according to Duque, are key to adding greater richness to the sauces that make holiday dishes like roast turkey, goose, and even macaroni and cheese so delicious. 

Award-winning food writer and cookbook author of The French Cook: Sauces, Holly Herrick shares that French butter is one of the chef's secrets to luscious sauces. "Pan juices from turkeys and roasts are a great way to create natural pan sauces, reductions, and gravies. After picking up the brown bits of a turkey or beef roast, deglaze with vermouth or cider for a festive flare, reduce, add some finely chopped fresh or dried mushrooms, enough stock to finish, and a final swirl of good French butter." 

Adds Herrick, "For an exciting, easy-to-prepare holiday brunch, try soft scrambled eggs over baguette toast topped with a warm sausage and sage bechamel.  Nothing can ever top a silky beurre blanc over poached sole or salmon; fresh chives make the perfect flavor and color finish." Another fan of beurre blanc is cookbook author, cooking instructor, and holiday cooking expert Rick Rodgers who shares that he often makes the emulsified combination of a reduction of vinegar or white wine and shallots with butter, instead of Hollandaise, but also shares that if you want to bring international flavors into the holidays it's easy with adaptations to classic Hollandaise. Says Rodgers, "You can put gochujang into your Hollandaise sauce or harissa or fresh herbs, but also Thai curry paste or miso, it's the simplest thing to do and brings it to a whole new level." 

Find the recipes for festive holiday treats like Cheddar Herb Rolls, Gooey Butter Bars and Zesty Butter Shortbread Cookies, and more at TasteEurope. With French butter, a world of flavors can make a holiday appearance at your table this year. 

More information about Taste Europe | Butter of France:

In France, butter is a key ingredient in many dishes as well as a staple in every kitchen.  This is promoted in the U.S. through the initiatives led by the French Dairy Inter-branch Organization (CNIEL, for its acronym in French) in cooperation with the European Union.  The joint effort aims to promote the benefits of French butter, its consumption, as well as introduce the U.S. to the myriad of differences between European and domestic butter and to increase exports.  For more about the campaign, visit: www.TasteEurope.com and join the conversation with #ButterofFrance on social networks through Facebook TasteEuropeButterofFrance & Instagram @TasteEurope.

About CNIEL:

CNIEL is the French inter-branch organization for cow's milk, created in 1974. It brings together producers, cooperatives, private industries, distributors, and food service stakeholders with the aim of carrying out collective actions in the service of the French dairy sector.

For more information:
Laura Baddish
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SOURCE Taste Europe Butter of France