The not-so-secret secret ingredient in a lot of (non-French) cooking is butter. This is even true in Italian cuisine. Just look at the recipe for Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter from Marcella Hazan, which is the most popular recipe on The New York Times' voluminous online catalog, that includes nearly half-a-stick of butter.
Most recognize Extra Virgin Olive Oil as the lipid of choice in Italian cooking, but Italians — especially in the regions of the north — are not afraid to use butter in their risottos and pastas. Hell, my crostino of choice these days, found at nearly every Florentine trattoria, is crusty bread slathered in butter and topped with a sardine or anchovy filet. Back in my days living in Tuscany, my toddler daughter took a plate of pasta with butter and Parmigiano Reggiano at seemingly every meal.
And it was this Parmigiano Reggiano butter combination that caught my attention at the most recent Fancy Food Show in NYC. As I wandered the Italian Pavillion, attempting to eat my body weight in cured meats, I naturally stopped by the booth of Ferrarini, a renowned Parmigiano Reggiano maker and one of the most respected producers of cured meats in all of Europe. What I discovered — after a prosciutto, mortadella and finocchiona feeding frenzy —was a newly launched salted butter, as well as their NON-GMO butter made from the cream of Parmigiano Reggiano. What a revelation!
The sweet, nutty flavor of NON-GMO butter is roundly complimented by the Parmigiano Reggiano cream. The texture is sublime (I wanted to rub some on my neck). Usage seemed simple enough, like all great condiments: to enhance other high-quality ingredients either through cooking or complement.
What makes the Ferrarini NON-GMO Butter extra appealing is that it fosters sustainability. By using the typically discarded cream that rises during Parmigiano Reggiano production, a zero-waste process is achieved.
Works for me. I'm going to order some and send my daughter down memory lane with a plate of pasta of butter and cheese.
