Page 138 - Through the eyes of an African chef

THROUGH THE EYES OF AN AFRICAN CHEF
My butter
INGREDIENTS
600ml (1 pint) cream Salt to taste (optional)
I first made butter more than 15 years ago, but it never tasted like the butter I made at Ballymaloe cookery school with raw milk that I had milked first-hand from a cow. Now I know that a visit to a farm with cows or goats is an opportunity to make butter.
I prefer unsalted butter as I can use it for both cooking and baking; I just add salt if necessary. Also, as a health-conscious move, reducing salt is good.
You must clean and sterilise your equipment before you start making butter. Instead of a machine, you can also use a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Fill the cream just half way up the bottle, then shake the bottle vigorously until the cream turns to butter. You can then follow the steps of removing buttermilk and rinsing the butter.
It’s particularly fun to do this with kids. All of that shaking uses lots of energy!
INSTRUCTIONS
Clean your mixer, and ideally use the stainless-steel bowl of the machine. Whisk the cream. It will turn to whipped cream, then stiff peaks thereafter. The sloshing starts as buttermilk separates from the butter after about 10 minutes in the machine. By hand it will take longer and you will need to shake it more after pouring out the buttermilk.
Pour out the buttermilk using a sieve, but save it for baking (or drink it, as I do!).Rinse the butter under cold water, kneading it a little as you rinse it thoroughly to avoid it going rancid later. At this stage, you may season it and form slabs of 200g, or your desired size. Alternatively, make into little balls, which I find easier.
MAKES 1–2 SLABS PREPARATION TIME 15–20 MINS
136 MY TRAVEl RECIPES: bAllYMAlOE [ chapter nine ]