Last Wednesday evening, I attended the “Butter Live” with Ella McSweeney at St. Ailbe’s School in Tipperary town. The first time I’ve ever witnessed butter making was at Harry’s restaurant the previous week in Donegal for the Inishfood gathering. Butter making has been part of the Irish household throughout history. Butter was considered extremely valuable as it was a source of fat and nourishment. Meat and other forms of protein were, and still are, considered items of luxury in most of the world. Im ur is sweet butter, in Irish (gruiten is salted butter), and no matter where it’s made, butter not only takes quite some skill to produce, but historically has been women’s work! Centuries ago, women were in charge of making the butter as it was believed that the mystical powers that turned liquid cream into firm butter were best dealt with by womenfolk.
My wife and two boys came with me to Tipperary last Wednesday and I must say it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and creating the butter was a very fulfilling experience. We started by whisking cream and after approximately 10 minutes we had created a pad of beautiful pure Irish butter which was relished by all the family for breakfast on St. Patrick’s Day. It’s amazing to see 5 and 6 year old children engage in a really meaningful way and seeing their real quest for information. This is encouraging as a parent and to see their pride in what we made as a family and the passion with which they communicated the whole experience to my own parents the next day. I hope you enjoy the attached video and all I can say, it is as easy as it looks so go, on try making butter.
Butter live starts at 10 mins 10 seconds. Drag the bar to this time to watch from the beginning
