ottawa foodies

Ah, I finally found a topic of interest to me that has not been covered here...

Good, fresh, unsalted butter...to be used mainly on breads, not for cooking or baking.

When recently in Michigan, I was astounded at the variety of butters available (international and national). I have heard of Vermont Butter & Cream, Plugra but have not tried them (or looked for them yet).

I do know many of the European butters.

Are there any choices available in the Ottawa area (or perhaps I should look when I go to the Jean-Talon market...


And why are my posts being duplicated on line today?

Kristl

You could make fresh butter yourself if you really wanted - if you have a food processor it shouldn't be too hard:

webexhibits.org

I agree, making your own butter, for something extraordinary, is the way to go. Again, this is something I did years ago, it produced such a wonderful fresh tasting cream... Vermont Butter is pretty excellent, but I'm sure you could make something comparable with any of Ottawa's (valley included) great fresh dairy producer milk.

I remember this Cheese shop in Toronto... they had such a great variety of dairy products, including imported butter from around the world, including unpasteurized, which I'm sure is probably slightly clandestine, but whatever. If anyone finds a gourmet butter being sold in Ottawa, POST IT!

All you need is a mixer FOOD is HOT. Butter happens accidentally sometimes in the pastry kitchen if it is hot and humid out and you walk away from the mixer for too long. Basically butter is just overwhipped (really overwhipped) cream. Just put the mass of butter in a clean apron or lint-free towel and wring it out. You can save the whey for baking if you like.

I remember in 5th grade, we made our own butter by pouring whipping cream into a jar, closing the lid, and shaking the hell out of it for 20 minutes or so. Of course it tasted heavenly. I see FiH's web link covers this jar method too. It's a fun educational activity to keep in mind if you have kids!

Yup, we did that in school too. In university I used to make my own butter that way quite a lot.

If anyone knows of a source of Pamplie here in Ottawa, I'd like to know about it too!

Where do people go to get the whip cream or double cream without the "carrageenan or other stabilizers" as is recommended on the site food is hot recommended?

Also, what's the best sources for local dairy products like milk, cream etc?
Do any local dairies sell these products directly?

Cheers

Good question. The only local organic milk I know of is Cochranes. I tried it once and didn't really notice any taste difference between their milk and Sealtest. I have become quite addicted to Harmony organic milk but their farm is in Southwestern Ontario. (I have also heard their cream, sour cream and butter is also quite good.) We do seem to produce a fair bit of cheese around Eastern Ontario but no other dairy products come to mind. I wonder if we might have more luck in West Quebec...

You can make butter with just regular whipping cream with all the junk in it.

But Herb and Spice carries organic "Harmony" milk products without it. Look for glass bottles.

Yes Herb on Wellington sells a full line of their products whereas the one downtown does not. It's definitely worth a trip from centretown - not that I have to travel too far... Sometimes Loeb in the Glebe has it too but it's hit or miss. You really have it made in Hintonburg zymurgist - there are definitely some nice shops there!

Like Parma Ravioli for a Pasta Lover :-)

Does Cochrane's really sell organic milk? I've seen (and bought) their milk at Herb and Spice and Loeb, but it wasn't labelled as organic (and the price was more on-line with non-organic). Locally I've only seen Harmony, Liberty and Organic Meadows. (Harmony chocolate milk is amazing, for what it's worth)

As far as butter is concerned, Stirling is available at a few places around Ottawa and seems pretty good. When down in Belleville we usually load up on butter from Reid's Dairy as the price is good at their store and everything seems to be good quality.

A bit of a tangent but if you like egg nog try Cochrane's. I have bought some the last 2 Christmas' at Aubreys! Its excellent!

Cheers!

I think I have personally tasted all the pasta dishes at Parma Ravioli both the fresh pasta and the premade dishes. If they ever sell shares I will be first in line to buy some! I definitely love pasta the most hence the nickname. I have even strayed to Luciano's although I still like Parma the best.

As for Cochranes for some reason I had it stuck in my head it was organic but I could be wrong. I will have to check the label. I know it's locally produced though.

You can also find organic dairy products in the "healthy/vegetarian" section at The Real Canadian Superstore.

Yeah, but expect the Superstore stuff to go bad well before the best-before date because of the stupid effing open-faced fridges they use for the organic section.

Idiots.

Sorry, pet peeve. We finally gave up on them.

If you make your own butter, just make sure that you rinse all whey out, otherwise it will go bad really quickly.