Unpasteurised butter is exciting, complex and rare! Unique, artisanal and raw milk butter has finally arrived at The International Butter Club!
Not only is this our first unpasteurised butter but it (and its salted counterpart) are our first Belgian butters! Grâce a dieu, they arrived safely in Dubai, tasty little buttery nuggets.
There is absolutely no need to be worried about unpasteurised butter (unless you have a medical need to be careful) - it comes with its own infinitely more complex and diverse microbiome... and flavour profile!
The first time we had unpasteurised butter, it was a revelation. The complexity and depth of flavour were unparalleled and the flavours changed and developed, without ever going rancid, over the short time it was in our refrigerator.
Bring it on!
L&L Plaquette Butter Appreciation
Butter Break Down
Appreciation Date: January 8, 2021
Country of Origin: Belgium
Point of Procurement: Secrets Fine Food
Purchase State: Frozen
Milk: Cow, unpasteurised
Salt Content: None
Milk Fat Content: None
Ingredients: Cream (Milk), water, ferments
Company Website: https://www.beurreplaquette.com
Butter Evaluation
In which we discuss L&L Plaquette's unpasteurised, unsalted butter.
We feel we must start off with saying we are incredibly biased when it comes to unpasteurised anything, particularly dairy products.
That being said, though, we promise to keep our wits about us and review this and its salted counterpart with as much integrity as humanly possible!
Though it arrived frozen, it was quick to warm up and the first thing that struck us, apart from how small the butter nugget was, was how SOFT this butter was! Apart from some Italian butters and an Alpine butter, this is the softest we'd ever encountered.
The second thing that struck us was the deep, golden yellow colour of the butter. Some oxidation had happened (when the butter on the outside has turned translucent due to air contact) but what left an impression was how bright it was! High gloss, through and through, this butter was shining with happiness.
Here you can see how soft the butter is - we couldn't get a feel for if it was stretchy or chewy or crumbly, it was just soft and spreadable, and there's nothing wrong with that! The one unusual texture note, however, was we noticed that there was some water sweat, probably due to the added water on the ingredients list. Normally frozen butter won't 'sweat' once thawed but this did, leaving us to hypothesise that this may be a quality of the butter itself.
The aromas were powerful though. Since it's unpasteurised, the butter will continue to slowly ferment and its flavour profile will develop (without going rancid) until it's been consumed.
The main notes we got off of this one was that it was cheesy! Bright fresh, tangy ferments abound and unlike some very aromatic butters, this one packed a punch in the mouth, too.
Many butters can be discrete in the mouth, especially the unpasteurised ones, but this is quite the opposite. This one was deepy fermented, almost cheesy but with a strong buttery taste. It clung memorably to the palate. Though it wasn't salted we still felt that there were faint notes of salt, somehow.
Final Rundown
This is a powerful, tangy butter for people who like their butter to sit up and smack them in the face! Not for the faint hearted, this one is as rich, decadent and indulgent as butter gets. If you're a fan of flavourful butters, this is absolutely the butter for you! The only unfortunate aspects were the presence of water droplets and that, for some, it may be TOO tangy.
But no one is perfect, right?
Colour: Bright gold
Aroma: Cheesy, tangy, fermented
Taste: Strong, rich butter with tangy flavours
7/10
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