Parm Regg Butter

I recently stumbled into butter made from the cream that remains from the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese making process (@ Fairway, for those NYC dwellers).

I've been dying to try it and finally dropped the $6 for about a 1/2 lb flat, chunky block of the Parm Regg butter.

I tried it straight up at first, on a piece of a baguette.  I did get some subtle earthiness from it, but overall it was creamy, very mild and most importantly, lacked the sweet buttery flavor we have all come to love.

I then used it in a couscous.  The creaminess was definitely there and added lots of richness to the grains. But again, lacking that sweet buttery taste without compensating with the cheese-like flavors you might expect.

I will continue to use it and report if I change my tune in the upcoming weeks.  But my current opinion is that I miss the sweetness of the unsalted butter I currently enjoy and don't taste the benefits of being from the Reggiano hills.  I can't recommend it beyond general curiosity.

Comments

[sam]

Joe - I think your mind and mine must be somehow connected, we often thinking about the similar stuff??
I was looking at the very same thing on Saturday when I spied it in a fancy food shop in SF, and wondering about it as i waited for the assistant to weigh my fresh yeast.
I didnt buy any, but i am now more intrigued about what constitutes a "sweet buttery flavor we have all come to love". Being a English girl who after 5 years in town still cant get used to sweet butter, I am wondering if this might actually be more my cup of tea. DOes it have a lot of salt added?

sam

[joe]

hi sam, so weird. i think i am living a bizarro version of your life here in nyc.

good point - i guess my butter tastes are pretty american. i love cabot unsalted butter and sometimes mix it up with a european style butter called plugra, again unsalted.

yes, this parm butter might be your speed. it does not have salt added but is very rich - 83% butter fat.

[Adam]

Sounds like this product was dreampt up by the same creative bunch that invented Vegimite/Marmite. Re-use the dregs of some process already in place and jack up the price so that what was once garbage appears to consumers to be gold... A true win-win situation for the producer :)

[How to Get the Girl of your Dreams]

good to try with a scampi or other white sauce with pasta.