[From Breakfast, Butter and Bread]
When is your favorite meal of the day? It may be lunch, or it may be dinner at the end of the day when you can relax and enjoy your favorite food. For me, breakfast with butter on toast is a time of bliss.
Butter is produced in India in the largest amount in the world. This is because the Hindu religion restricts beef consumption, so milk and butter are used to compensate for the lack of nutrients. The most common types of butter in Japan are domestic and French. In Japan, non-fermented butter made from fresh cream is the mainstream, with a light and elegant flavor. Fermented butter, made from lactic acid fermented cream, has long been popular in Europe, where cattle raising has been popular, and is rich and aromatic.
In New Zealand, there is butter made from grass-fed, stress-free dairy cows. It is highly nutritious due to its high-quality fat and is characterized by its dark yellow color, and its taste and aroma are rich yet light. New Zealand, like Japan, is an island country with a long and narrow north-south axis, with four seasons, hot springs, and seafood, just like Japan, so it seems to suit the Japanese palate. Coincidentally, this summer's heatwave has also affected butter, and there was news of an additional import quota due to a possible shortage of stock. Imported butter may become a little more accessible.
Did you know that preferences for toasted bread are beautifully divided between the Kanto and Kansai regions? In the Kanto region, six-slice bread is by far the most popular, accounting for half the share, followed by eight-slice bread at 30%. In Kansai, 5 slices account for 40%, followed by 4 slices, and 8 slices only 0.50%. The reason for this is that the crispy and crunchy rice cracker culture of the Kanto region tends to demand thinner toast, while the fluffy and chunky flour culture of the Kansai region tends to demand thicker toast. How many slices of bread are most commonly sold around you in other regions? It is interesting to see the differences in food culture even from the shelves of familiar stores.
Noda Horo's Butter Case
https://www.shokunin.com/en/noda/butter.html
Yoshita Handi-Design Studio’s Butter Knife
https://www.shokunin.com/en/yoshita/cutlery.html
Tadafusa’s Butter Knife
https://www.shokunin.com/en/tadafusa/butter.html
Tadafusa's Bread Knife
https://www.shokunin.com/en/tadafusa/houchou.html
Moyai Kogei's Zelkova Bread Plate
https://www.shokunin.com/en/moyai/
References
https://www.meiji.co.jp/meiji-shokuiku/worldculture/
https://furusato.mynavi.jp/blog/butter/
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20240626/k10014493181000.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVCq7LjxYh4
