Jean-Yves Bordier is a master artisan butter-maker and cheese-ripener. The son and grandson of cheese mongers, Bordier is perhaps the last-remaining artisan to knead his churned butter in a wooden cylinder and to sprinkle fine sea salt by hand. Le Beurre Bordier can be found in the best creameries throughout France and in a few other countries, including Thailand.
Churned, kneaded by hand and salted to taste, Bordier butter is used by some of the best chefs in the world, including several working in three Michelin-starred restaurants. Guru speaks to Bordier to discover more about his "When my butter cries, it means it is singing! When my butter sings, it means it is crying!" phrase.
What made you want to make butter when you were born in a family of cheese-makers?
I left home when I was 20 as I wanted to do things on my own. I settled down in Brittany and began selling cheese, like my parents. Life has been very kind to me because in the history of Brittany there was no cheese-maker and month after month I was very successful. I started to get well-known and after two years, a restaurant guide came to visit me, when they were looking for special artisans. They did a feature on me and I started to supply well-known chefs. My shop became too small for demand and that made me move to St. Malo. At the back of the shop, I discovered all the paraphernalia needed to make butter. My grandfather and father made butter and throughout my childhood, all I ever heard was 'never make butter, it is too complicated'. But being a rebel, I always do the opposite of what I have been told.
(Photos: Bordier Selection)
I started making butter and it was a revelation. I wanted to understand how people in the past made butter. However, at that time people were moving away from the use of paddles and traditional methods. I was moving against the stream and this is why I specialised in making butter the old-fashioned way.
From 1985-1990, I was making butter but no one knew about it. In August 1995, a chef tried my butter at the weekend market in St. Malo. In September, I got a call from the chef inviting me to his restaurant in Paris because he was impressed with my butter. When he gave me the address it was at the Plaza Athénée in Paris and the chef was Éric Briffard. However, a few months later Briffard left the Plaza Athénée, but not before sending out contacts of all his suppliers and artisans to his other chef friends. Soon after Joël Robuchon asked me to supply his restaurants and kitchens with my butter. A lot of other chefs followed suit.
What makes Bordier unique and so coveted?
The milk for the butter comes from the highest grade Breton milk from organic farms in Brittany and Normandy. The milk is first skimmed, then aged. The butter is then left to rest for 24 hours before being kneaded and churning by hand using a teak frame and wheel to turn the butter and stretch it in different directions.
When I found the wooden malaxeur or kneading machine at the back of the shop in St. Malo it was unique. This machine separates the water from the butter giving it a special oxidation, because a little bit of air is introduced to the butter. This is important for the food. When you put salt in the butter, the fat molecules don't like salt, it makes the butter drier though it retains the texture and taste.
(Photos: Bordier Selection)
The wooden pallet was invented in the 17th century to give form to the butter. After butter moulds and wraps were invented, the use of the wooden pallet was not preferred because it is not economical, especially when dealing with large quantities of butter. I like slow and manual work. The advantage of wooden pallet is that though it is a very slow way of forming butter; hitting it with the pallet makes it soft and every time you hit the butter you change the texture of the butter. It is this texture that develops the aroma and taste of Le Beurre Bordier. Alain Passard describes my butter as being silky. I concentrate on the kneading and beating of the butter to develop it.
How has climate change changed or affected the way you made butter?
The regular four seasons have changed, the regular food for the cows have changed, more specifically nothing is regular anymore, you can even feel it. Normally the cows are kept in barns during the winter and this is not because they are cold. It is because with the bad weather and the rain they will stomp on their feed and it will become a field of mud. With the unpredictable bad weather these days, the cows have to stay longer in the barns and there they eat different types of food. The quantity of milk they produce is also unpredictable in such circumstances.
The summers are getting hotter and in Brittany temperatures reach 40C, which is normally unheard of. Cows normally give 25-30 litres of milk daily, however in the future smaller cows like Jerseys and Bolton will be used as they are sturdier and more resistant to climate change, but they produce less milk.
When making cheese, we use protein from the milk and when we make butter we use the fat. The milk used for the butter and cheese are not the same as I need a lot of fat to produce my butter. I don't make cheese, I only age cheese. We use two breeds for the milk, which give us 40 litres of milk daily. But with climate change, we may have to use local cows, which produce only 12 litres daily, on an average. This difference of 18 litres will be a problem for the producer. For me, it doesn't change but it is an economical question to which I don't have an answer.
Explain your selection of the different flavours of Bordier butter. What's your favourite flavour?
All throughout the year, I have around eight or nine flavours, but we have seasonal flavours, too. Our chocolate butter is only made during Christmas and Easter. We have strawberry only when it is in season and other butters that are custom-made only for chefs.
The seaweed butter was created by chance. In Brittany, there is plenty of seaweed to be found. In 1996, in front of my shop was a fishmonger who caught a huge plaice. I invited him to cook it at mine, since he did not know what to do with it. I cut the seaweed very thinly and mixed it with butter. Once the fish was cooked in the oven, we took a slice and put a bit of butter and seaweed mix on it and discovered the butter! This is my favourite flavour. I even tried, unsuccessfully, to patent it because I was so excited about 'inventing' seaweed butter.
What's the best way to savour Le Beurre Bordier?
A freshly cut slice of bread, as simple as possible and a bit toasted, and a thin slice of the butter. Do not spread it. It should be eaten like you would eat foie gras. Bread and butter is the most authentic food in Europe.
Can we look forward to Thai flavours in Bordier Selection?
I have been testing various ingredients to go with my butter but as of now I haven't discovered the right one for the global market. I am still researching and it is a complicated process. I can easily make one just for Thailand, but because my production is in France logistics make it difficult. I need to make one for everyone, the world over.
Bordier Selection has opened its second Bangkok store at Iconsiam at the premium lifestyle supermarket Dear Tummy, G floor. The shop offers the full range of Le Beurre Bordier, as well as seasonal releases. A limited range of Bordier cheeses, including Comté AOP, Truffle Gouda and Sainte Maure de Touraine AOP, will also be on sale. Open daily 10am-10pm. Call 02-003-6136 or visit facebook.com/bordierselection. Bordier Selection is also available at Another Story in EmQuartier. Visit lebeurrebordier.com.
JEAN-YVES BORDIER'S SECRETS
- Select a high-quality local churned butter made with local milk, supporting farmers who work organically or with reasonable practices.
- Open-air kneading. Use a forgotten technique and imagine that you could add value to the butter to make it expectional.
- Pound the butter by hand. Perpetuate a hand movement with paddles that respect the texture.
- Create the first flavoured butters. Develop a balanced taste between the butter and the highlighted ingredient.
- Create a tailor-made personalised butter for each chef.
- Take your time. Jean-Yves Bordier transforms his butter taking his time, starting from a high-end butter. In the industry, only six hours separate milking the cows from the butter brick. Bordier butter needs three days.
- Bordier butters come in a variety of flavours. In addition to the original unsalted, semi-salted and salted butters, Bordier has added more exotic flavours to the butters over the years, inspired by his travels and work with chefs.
- Butters available in Thailand include, yuzu butter, olive oil butter, seaweed butter, espelette butter, Sichuan butter, buckwheat butter and smoked salt butter. Some butters, like the raspberry butter and onion Roscoff butter, are seasonal and not available all year round.
