Our first German butter! Cultured, unsalted, ostensibly Alpine-pastured and organic, this butter is an impressive example of the wonderful butters Germany has to offer. Let's dig in - los geht's!
When I lived in Germany, I completely took for granted all the easily-accessible fantastic bread, butter, milk and pork products. I lived in Bavaria with a wonderful host family for nearly a year and even though my host mother hated cooking and deliberately built her kitchen to discourage lingering, it truly was the beginning of my serious food education.
My wonderful 'other mother', made such wonderful chicken and mushroom sauces that were deceptively simple but so flavourful and different to what I had grown up with. We had beautiful salads with 'yoghurt' dressing, my sister's grilled courgettes (any time it stopped raining in the summer, a bbq was quickly organised!), homemade spätzle refried in butter, my other sister's wonderful plätzchen which, though full of hazelnuts (allergens), I could barely resist, beautiful brötchen on Sundays with lashings of butter, honey or jam washed down with properly brewed loose tea and served from a proper teapot.
Some members of the family were watching their cholesterol so the poor things were subjected to Lätta, a low-fat spread. For me, life is too short (and may be getting shorter- ha!) and the rest of us had butter. I was not restrained;
I probably doubled their food budget.
I don't remember having #Andechser when I lived in Germany. To be fair, I don't remember the brand of butter at all but I do remember that few cultures do carb and fat better than the Germans do. Prost!
Andechser Natur Bio Almbutter Appreciation
Butter Break Down
Appreciation Date: 29/05/2020
Country of Origin: Germany
Point of Procurement: #OrganicFoodsAndCafe, Dubai
Purchase State: Fresh
Milk: Cow, pasteuised, cultured
Salt Content: None
Milk Fat Content: 82%
Ingredients: Cultured cow's cream
Declared Possible Allergens: Cow's milk, lactose
Company Website: https://www.andechser-natur.de/en/bio-produkte/andechser-natur-organic-alp-butter-250g
Butter Evaluation
In which we discuss Andechser Natur's butter.
Oooh, this stuff is decadent. Almbutter is 'Alp Butter' or pastured Alp butter which means it is made from the milk of dairy cows living on actual Alp pasture. This is the stuff of legend. It's also certified organic so the nutritional profile of this is potentially that of Superhero butter.
Granted, this butter got a little warmer than I would have liked before we could sample it properly, but the actual tasting temperature accentuated one of the unique qualities of this butter: it is very soft. This is due to the rich grass diet of the cows which then produce a softer milkfat. When churned, this will produce a softer and more spreadable butter which was definitely my experience. It's a beautiful golden yellow, glossy and soft.
Another unique quality is that it is churned from naturally fermented cream. It even claims on the label that it is naturally soured for 14 hours before it begins its transformation into butter. This is also certainly verifiable in its light cream aroma with only a hint of tang.
Its taste is also surprisingly light. Again, the faint tang of natural fermentation is present but it's nothing compared to some soured butters I've had. It's milky and soft on the palate without being greasy. It's beautifully rich without being overwhelming. I find this to be a well balanced butter with body without being too sour or heavy. Delightful!
Final Rundown
This is a beautifully light, rich and flavourful butter without being 'too much'. It lends itself very well to cooler climates where it remains spreadable at lower temperatures, especially for a butter that is 82% milkfat. I would love to see an independent nutritional profile of this one- I bet it's an absolute nurtritional powerhouse!
Colour: Alp-butter-yellow. Glossy and translucent.
Aroma: Light dairy with a hint of cultures.
Taste: Rich and light. A slight fermented sourness without it being challenging. Moreish.