Russian Butter??

[fairbro]

Does anyone know what Russian butter is made of?

I buy it at the supermarket, and it says 72.5 or 80. What does this mean? That it's 72.5 butter? What is the other 27.5% ? I have asked my Russian friends about this, and they say it is 72.5% butter. and when I ask what is the other ingredient, they don't know. Also, I notice that when i keep it in the regriogerator, it has a dull, dark yellow shell on the outside and the pale, creamy yellow on the inside. What is it!? Or am i just a spoiled American, expecting the butter to be always soft?

TIA

Jim

[Fulbert]

Ok, pal, just let me explain you some peculiarities of such a product as "Russian Butter".
First of all, the enigmatic "percentage". It's amount of fat. So, 100 grams of 80% butter is 80 grams of pure animal fat. All the rest are water and different kinds of sugar, milk acid and whatever butter consists of. Amount of fat is the main characteristic of diary products, in Russia, at least, that is why they print that percentage on any diary product package. Fairly easy, eh?
Now, for the softness of butter. You know, maybe the idea of what butter should look like is the main difference between Russians and Americans. Probably it's the thing that caused the Cold War For example, softness of "Russian butter" highly depends on its temperature. While kept in fridge, it is hard (when I was in Siberia, I saw a wonderful picture of a fellow chopping a piece of butter with an axe ). When kept in room temperature, it is almost as soft as "American" butter. And if heated, it may even become liquid! Try this at home, it's gorgeous stuff to see;-)
Next, Russian butter has nearly no smell, maybe just a faint smell of cream (if you buy your butter in a shop, of course. Home-made, "village" butter has strong cow smell. You've got to get used to it...)
And finally, it is a diary product, so it can't be kept forever. So if you feel there's something wrong about your butter (strange colour or smell), you'd better just throw it away and buy another packet.
And as for that refined "soft" butter of yours. I think I know what you are speaking about. It is sold in Russia as "soft" or "sandwich" butter, and is not in fact butter at all (in Russian point of view). It is margarine - solid blend of different vegetable fats. It is always soft, yellow and has strong specific stench. And, I guess, it can be kept for a long time without getting spoilt.
That's all. So long, and priyatnogo appetita

P.S. I might just add that here in Russia they sometimes sell solid margarine as butter, so you've got to be very careful and choose only the most expensive stuff if you don't want to be cheated.
P.P.S. Maybe you'll want to heat your knife while dealing with a piece of right-from-the-fridge butter.

[Doctor Mick]

Keep the butter in water in the fridge and it'll keep its colour. An old "Bistro" trick

[Voyager13b]

Originally Posted by Doctor Mick

Keep the butter in water in the fridge and it'll keep its colour. An old "Bistro" trick

Good point about keeping it in water for short term storage. Butter (even in water) is notorious for absorbing odors from other foods in the refrigerator though. Cover it with a good moisture/vapor barrier plastic wrap.

For long term storage, butter can be stored in the freezer for almost a year with no ill effects on it's freshness, provided it is wrapped in moisture/vapor barrier plastic. Otherwise, butter will pick up food odors even while stored in the freezer.

Voyager

[fairbro]

Now I found in the store "American Sandwich" bread. It's just like Wonder Bread, or Stroemann's or the one with the picture of the sunshine-and-daisys girl on it? Anyway, it's the same taste, and there's no huge listing of artificial taste, oder, mold-preventing, consistency-enhancing artifical ingredients and chemicals. Just 6 or 7 real ingredients. But still, it doesn't turn into a brick a day later. And it's wrapped with paper that doesn't sprout holes when you open it. Okay, I ate whole loaf in one day. Each slice with butter. Umm, fkusna! So much for the diet-while-I'm-in-Russia plan.