Butter at Eataly

Any time I visit a gourmet grocery store, I am always eager to check out their butter aisle. From Jelmoli in Zurich to la Grande Epicerie in Paris, I love exploring the world of gourmet butter.

The other week, I was lucky enough to stop by Eataly Manhattan. And, as expected, they had an awesome selection of butter. Embracing the locavore lifestyle, Eataly has a range of nearby farms represented in their dairy section. They have butter from Vermont Creamery, Ronnybrook Farm and Kriemheld Dairy Farm. Other milk products come from Battenkill Valley Creamery, Hudson Valley Fresh and Arethusa Dairy.

They were even selling buttermilk that hails from the well-known Animal Farm in Orwell, VT. But don’t be fooled! Buttermilk that retails commercially in the United States is not real buttermilk. Rather, it is pasteurized milk that has been re-cultured to recreate the tangy taste of authentic buttermilk.

At it’s core, Eataly celebrates Italian cuisine. So, of course, they had an impressive selection of imported Italian butter for sale. We bought four of the Italian butters to try.

The first butter hails from the Maritime Alps of Italy, made in the artisanal butter factory of well-known cheese maker, Beppino Occelli. The second butter Delitia is imported from Parma. It is made with the same milk that is used to make parmigiano reggiano. The third butter we purchased was Kristin’s favorite – butter from famed cheese makers, Caseificio dell’alta Langa, located in the Piemontesi valley in Northern Italy.

Due to my weakness for truffles, my favorite butter was Urbani’s White Truffle Butter. In a word, heavenly. Urbani is a truffle exporter that manages 70% of the truffles that come out of Europe. Of course, their white truffle butter did not disappoint. The butter paired perfectly with a Pecorino Romano and some dark, grainy bread.