lay it on thick

Would you look at that color difference? This golden tub of Jersey cow butter (higher butterfat content that the ol reglar stuff) came into my possession during a country mile loop of late. On the hunt for plant nursery sales, all those cute Amish stands begged for perusing as well. A hand-scribbled note lay beneath scrubby tape lines at the counter: Jersey butter for sale, $6 a lb. To those in love with the taste of rocking good fat, such notes are to be taken as serendipitous lottery-sized asides from Heaven. “I’d like  a tub, please,” I said somwhat hastily, fretting that perhaps the sign was old.

One of the ladies shuttled into the house behind the stand to procure a tub, telling me that yes, the butter was available for most of the year, and how much would I be coming back for? It wasn’t until holding a virginal butter tasting at home that I understood in the immediate start contrast of conventional butter next to this Jersey gold how much better it is. And once past the initial dollops, Michael and I greased our elbows significantly with more prolonged application testing. First, on sweet corn. Then into biscuits for breakfast, topped with sausage and gravy (butter being a main ingredient here as well). I recalled a discussion several years ago with fellow participants in a cheese-tasting seminar – the couple had just completed a butter party, wherein guests delighted in no less than 10 butters. I remember wondering where one could acquire so many varieties, and I questioned my ability to really enjoy such an event.

Happily, my gastronomical awareness matures daily, with especial help from the experiences of home-grown produce and meats, neighbors who haul me along to their finds in the region’s edible abundances, and a partner who really enjoys eating. I’m convinced that butter could be anyone’s next frontier; dried pork varieties a bit too scary still, and wine still a totally mystifying indulgence? Try butter! ssssss

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