Butter

September 1, 2016

As a pastry chef, test kitchen editor, and food writer Khosrova is accustomed to seeking out exotic and trendy foods. When asked to rate an array of butters from around the world, the author realized this common staple is more complex than one might imagine. In this debut, she explores the factors and conditions that account for the many variations in taste. The author begins with a review of the historical uses for butter in religious and medicinal practices, as well as the tools and techniques applied in traditional butter making. Industrialization brought about new methods of production and preservation, transforming the butter industry. Traveling the world, Khosrova samples products from all kinds of animals, speaks with scientists about the biology of cows and how diverse environments produce differences in butters, and is schooled in the science of grading butter. Also included are classic recipes with butter as the fundamental ingredient, such as pate brisee, croissants, and puff pastry. VERDICT Although a short read, this enjoyable work packs plenty of fascinating history and science. For fans of food histories such as Dan Koeppel's Banana or Reaktion Books's "Edible" series.--Melissa Stoeger, Deerfield P.L., IL

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 29, 2016
Former pastry chef Khosrova shines a spotlight on butter, a simple, ubiquitious staple. Khosrova’s history is intimate and far-reaching, whether sampling the butter produced at farms in remote regions of the world or peeking into middle-class pantries. Throughout, she explores ancient and modern practices of creaming, churning, flavoring, and selling butter. She even includes discussions on margarine’s shady past and how it went from a cost-effective butter replacement to a health and marketing quagmire. Khosrova, who has worked at Country Living and Healthy Living magazines and has an obvious passion for food, pays homage to longtime butter-making traditions in India, Bhutan, Tibet, France, and the U.S. She discusses, among other things, camel butter, how some butter emits a golden aura, and how, before the industrial revolution, a dairy maid could always find a job. The book opens with an ode to butter by poet Elizabeth Alexander, and closes with an appendix on with how to say butter in over 50 languages. Khosrova’s ambitious project is a successful, fascinating account of a common dairy product.

A pastry chef and food writer offers a detailed history of her favorite ingredient.Whether served simply with a loaf of country bread in Ireland, folded into delicate layers of pastry to make a French croissant, or even mixed into a strong tea to propel Nepalese Sherpas up the side of Mount Everest, butter is a ubiquitous and seemingly universally beloved ingredient. As a former pastry chef at the Culinary Institute of America and the founding editor of culture, a magazine about specialty cheese, Khosrova has long relied on natural saturated fats for her craft. After moving her family to the Hudson Valley, where she lives between two dairy farms, the author grew more interested in how we started eating dairy fat and the different ways it is used around the world. No one knows exactly when people started eating butter, but one theory is poetic--Stone Age nomads stored milk in animal skins, and as they traveled by horseback, the skins jostled enough to churn the milk into butter. From there, Khosrova takes us through the history, from the sacred--Tibetan Buddhists have used butter sculptures in their rituals for centuries; it also had spiritual meaning in Hindu and Celtic cultures--to the commonplace (in Europe and the New World, butter has been a mainstay of the economy for the last four centuries) to the reviled (the low-fat craze of the 20th century and the rise of butter alternatives like margarine) to the appreciated (from Sweden to the Napa Valley, artisanal butter-making is back). In the final third of the book, the author shows readers what to do with her beloved subject, offering a "greatest hits" list of recipes for everything from croissants and scones to the perfect buttercream frosting, a silky bechamel sauce, and even cold smoked butter. Khosrova hits her stride with the recipes; the history portion has some charming anecdotes and interesting facts but is hindered by its narrow focus. A tasty but limited history of butter. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 1, 2016
A pastry chef and food writer offers a detailed history of her favorite ingredient.Whether served simply with a loaf of country bread in Ireland, folded into delicate layers of pastry to make a French croissant, or even mixed into a strong tea to propel Nepalese Sherpas up the side of Mount Everest, butter is a ubiquitous and seemingly universally beloved ingredient. As a former pastry chef at the Culinary Institute of America and the founding editor of culture, a magazine about specialty cheese, Khosrova has long relied on natural saturated fats for her craft. After moving her family to the Hudson Valley, where she lives between two dairy farms, the author grew more interested in how we started eating dairy fat and the different ways it is used around the world. No one knows exactly when people started eating butter, but one theory is poetic--Stone Age nomads stored milk in animal skins, and as they traveled by horseback, the skins jostled enough to churn the milk into butter. From there, Khosrova takes us through the history, from the sacred--Tibetan Buddhists have used butter sculptures in their rituals for centuries; it also had spiritual meaning in Hindu and Celtic cultures--to the commonplace (in Europe and the New World, butter has been a mainstay of the economy for the last four centuries) to the reviled (the low-fat craze of the 20th century and the rise of butter alternatives like margarine) to the appreciated (from Sweden to the Napa Valley, artisanal butter-making is back). In the final third of the book, the author shows readers what to do with her beloved subject, offering a "greatest hits" list of recipes for everything from croissants and scones to the perfect buttercream frosting, a silky bechamel sauce, and even cold smoked butter. Khosrova hits her stride with the recipes; the history portion has some charming anecdotes and interesting facts but is hindered by its narrow focus. A tasty but limited history of butter.

COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 1, 2016
From the very first milk collected from goats, camels, and sheep domesticated by humans, butter has been a precious and delectable by-product. Khosrova takes readers on an amazing journey in the history of butter, tracing butter's creation through time and geography, from the clarified butter known as ghee, which is able to be preserved longer in the intense heat of India, to the cold fingers of Sami women from the Far North stirring high-fat reindeer milk into a unique and delicious butter found nowhere else. For those who have ever wondered about the legendary purity of milkmaids or why butter is used in so many ways around the world, from religious rituals to cooking, this book sets out to answer the questions. There are lovely recipes included. An ambitious and interesting look at one of the world's most beloved dairy products, this is a great gateway to other food microhistories, including Mort Rosenblum's Olives: The Life and Lore of a Noble Fruit (1996) and Holley Bishop's Robbing the Bees: A Biography of Honey, the Sweet Liquid Gold That Seduced the World (2005).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)