Flavored, smoked, frothy: homemade butter, the latest craze among chefs

Published on February 22 at 8:00 a.m.

The airy smoked butter from Parisian restaurant Pristine. Jordan Sapally

In gourmet restaurants as well as in bistros, the buttered bread at the start of the meal is the object of ever more attention.

It arrives, white, round and frothy, like a snowball in its mountainous setting, on its tray made of local walnut custom-made for the restaurant l'Auberge de Montmin, on the heights of Lake Annecy (Haute-Savoie). "The avant-beurre" by chef Florian Favario, served with its walnut oil and its homemade bread with natural sourdough, is one of the rituals marking the beginning of the meal at this 2-star peaks. "I imagined it instinctively, from the opening, in relation to our natural environment, the pastures, the mountain farms. I wanted to offer a butter with a gourmet and addictive side, but less fatty. It has the taste of traditional butter, but with the lightness and texture of whipped cream, like a cloud." To make it, the chef beats a cream from a local farm until it melts with the butter. Seasoned with fleur de sel and crushed pepper at the last moment, it is served before the first course: “ It sets the tone…

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