You’ve Been Spreading Butter On Bread The Wrong Way, Says Master Butter Maker Bordier 

In the foodie world, Bordier butter is uttered in the same reverential tones as Birkins in the bag universe. Once mostly found only in Michelin-starred restaurants — the late chef Joel Robuchon was a fan and Odette in Singapore serves it — those coveted creamy blocks are now sold at selected gourmet shops here for regular Joes who like to treat themselves.

What is it about Bordier that dairy connoisseurs claim is the best butter in the world? First, there’s its romantic artisanal process. The brand is helmed by the larger-than-life Jean-Yves Bordier, 64. A barrel-waisted, gregarious, ruddy-faced man who speaks mostly French, a smattering of English, and peppers his speech with animated gesticulations. He was in town recently for the Voilah! France Singapore Festival, where he demonstrated the art of shaping his famed butter to the media.

Mr Bordier comes from a family of cheesemongers. Bordier Butter was founded after he acquired the La Maison du Beurre creamery in Brittany in 1985. There, he perfected the art of kneading butter, a super old-school method popular with 19th century butter artisans. The idea back in the old days was to not only aerate the butter and make it smooth; almost chewy, but also to mix various butter derived from various blends of milk in the countryside.

Most commercial butters are produced six hours after a cow is milked and takes only about 10 minutes to be churned in a large industrial machine. Bordier’s preservative-free butter, however, takes a total of 72 hours to be made. Most of it is spent allowing it to mature/culture to deepen in flavour and complexity, while churning it takes 50 minutes. Mr Bordier uses this analogy for his ‘baby’: “It takes nine months to make a kid, so if you want something good, it takes time”.

Photo: LE BEURRE BORDIER

He's also known for pounding and shaping butter to give it its smooth form and wonderfully pliable texture. Bordier’s butter is made with milk from free-ranging cows that graze on nutrient-rich grass in small farms in Brittany.

And instead of being kneaded at high-speed in machines like most mass market butters, Bordier uses a wooden machine (called a Malaxeur) to knead his butter slowly, for up to 30 minutes.

The butter is then slapped and pounded by hand, using ridged wooden paddles, and finally moulded into various shapes.

While the conical one is the most iconic, different high-end restaurants also request for other unique shapes to add their own stamp to the butter. “Kneading adds oyxgen to the butter, which gives it flavour. And it improves its texture,”says monsieur Bordier.

Photo: Martin Boudier

What is the correct way to spread butter on toast, we ask Mr Bordier. He perks up visibly. “Thank you for asking this question. Do not use the teeth [ridged edge] of a butter knife. Instead, use only its smooth flat side, or tip,” says the butter artisan.

And do not do this,” he adds, violently manhandling a piece of bread with a knife and a stingy, even smear of butter (above pic). “Instead, do this,” he instructs, dolloping a chunk of butter so thick its like a mini snow drift on his tiny slice of baguette. “You eat it like foie gras. You pat it on delicately. This way, you have all the taste, all the texture and full expression of flavour,” he emphasises.

Interestingly, chef René Redzepi of the multiple award-winning Noma restaurant in Copenhagen shares a similar butter philosophy: it should be cut thick enough to show teeth marks after a bite . #teethbutter, anyone?

We first tasted Bordier butter about 16 years ago, at Les Amis restaurant. We were young, not yet jaded, and somewhat impressed as the waiter imperiously unveiled a tiny silver dish. Beneath it stood two creamy little cones, deep yellow and shimmering with the promise of the most luscious fat a pregnant bovine can yield. It was curiously striated with lines. “This is Bordier butter from Brittany. It comes from grass-fed cows and is hand-kneaded in small batches by French artisans.” At least, that’s what we recall him to have said.

At the time, we were blown away by how many layers of flavour this butter had: it was curiously pliable, satiny and coated the mouth in a most delightful way. It was lightly sweet, yet also exceedingly savoury and full of complexity. It was butter that had a thousand stories to tell your tongue — and each one better than the last. Since then, we’ve always perked up whenever we spied the conical towers in a fancy restaurant: it meant that we were going to stuff our faces on lots of bread. Years later, now that soap-sized blocks of paper-wrapped Bordier are available in gourmet shops in Singapore, we still think it remains one of the best butters we’ve had. Mainly because of its incredible chewy texture. These days, we prefer to buy the flavoured butters (see below) — those are truly special.​​​​​​​

Photo: Martin Boudier

Besides salted (get the demi-sel, which is semi-salted and not overly briny) and unsalted butter, Bordier boasts over 10 super gourmet flavoured butters.

Our favourites are the intoxicatingly fragrant Yuzu that’s great with raspberry jam on toasted sourdough, and the ridiculously umami Seaweed-flecked one that Mr Bordier suggests we melt and fry scallops in. Almost as delicious are the Lemon-Olive Oil number, where the grassy notes of the olive is perked up with zesty citrus, a delicate Madagascar Vanilla one that's lovely with pancakes and the punchy Smoked Salt butter that's almost ham-like.

All of these make eating just butter on bread, sans embellishments, a luxurious affair. Just remember to be like Mr Bordier and Noma chef René Redzepi — dab the butter on thick enough to leave teeth marks .

Photo: LE BEURRE BORDIER

Atout ($7.20 for 125g salted butter; from $9.50 for flavoured butter) https://shop.atout.sg/

So France ($8.50 for 125g salted butter; $10.90 for flavoured butter) https://www.so-france.sg

Huber’s ($14.50 for 125g salted butter; $11 for 125g yuzu butter) Huber’s Butchery https://www.hubers.com.sg

Special thanks to www.voilah.sg

Pics & video by Florence Fong. Additional photos by Martin Boudier & Le Beurre Bordier.