Which butter is better?

JAS_OH1 said:
I also think some restaurants serve margarine. In the south US (I lived in Florida for many years), some people call margarine "butter". If you ask for butter in a restaurant, you might be given margarine instead.
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In Dade, Publix sold Lurpak so we were okay. Eating out I don't remember being offered butter apart in this European chain that had a number of very popular places in Florida. The butter tasted normal because it was French. PAUL French Bakery & Cafe
 
Miami Dade is generally upscale with lots of transients, but other areas of Florida are full of simple southerners who just don't know any better.
 
Mountain Cat said:
Haven't had a McDonald's burger in over 20 years, so I don't remember, or maybe this is a more recent change . But I'm not surprised they're sweet.... McDonald's and all...
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I prefer Wendy's when I go for fast food Hamburgers, or In-N-Out Burgers.
 
Butter in restaurants - yes, it's fairly common that butter will be whipped to make it easier to spread, and yes, it's also fairly common that butter in restaurants will have a little sweetener mixed in - usually a touch of honey.

Also yes, depending on where you are and the...upscaleness?...of a place, you may very well be getting margarine, or butter with additives (like oil) or some other manufactured all-purpose spread. Sometimes "butter" is used as a generic term, just like "cream" for coffee might be anything from skim milk to heavy cream, or a non-dairy concoction, and just like "maple syrup" might end up being corn syrup with artificial flavorings, and don't get me started on "orange" juice... :)
 
TastyReuben said:
Butter in restaurants - yes, it's fairly common that butter will be whipped to make it easier to spread, and yes, it's also fairly common that butter in restaurants will have a little sweetener mixed in - usually a touch of honey.
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Thank you! I was starting to think maybe I had imagined it lol.
Whipping the butter to make it easier to spread does make sense....and shouldn't in theory change the taste. I definitely didn't like the added sweetness though.

TastyReuben said:
Also yes, depending on where you are and the...upscaleness?...of a place, you may very well be getting margarine, or butter with additives (like oil) or some other manufactured all-purpose spread. Sometimes "butter" is used as a generic term, just like "cream" for coffee might be anything from skim milk to heavy cream, or a non-dairy concoction, and just like "maple syrup" might end up being corn syrup with artificial flavorings, and don't get me started on "orange" juice... :)
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In terms of the upscaleness of the places.....well it probably varied. I definitely remember seeing it hotel breakfasts though....but that doesn't really help because they could have been at a Marriott, Sheraton, Holiday Inn, Best Western, or a boutique place. I do remember the butter(?) being served in little round pre-packaged pots though (I soon learned to look out for the ordinary rectangular pats of butter instead).


Actually that reminds me of another butter pet-peeve...when a hotel or restaurant takes those little individual pats of butter straight from the fridge to serve them or store them on ice....how on earth are you supposed to spread them? If I'm in a hotel with a toaster I usually put the butter pats on top of the toaster whilst I'm waiting for my bread to come through :okay:
 
JAS_OH1 said:
Miami Dade is generally upscale with lots of transients, but other areas of Florida are full of simple southerners who just don't know any better.
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That was precisely why I bought the house there. The vibe in our area was very Hispanic. in our local Publix I had to bring out my lousy Spanish to help find things. The sold aged Spanish Manchego and Membrillo. I also then noticed that because America does not respect AOC rules there were plenty of "fake" products on sale in other Supermarkets that bore no resemblance to the AOC product.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
Wasn't that Frank Zappa's band in the 1960s?
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His band was The Mothers of Invention. Also made famous in the Deep Purple song, Smoke on the water.

Frank Zappa and the Mothers
Were at the best place around,
But some stupid with a flare gun
Burned the place to the ground.

CD
 
JAS_OH1 said:
I don't eat out often, but I do know that some fine dining restaurants whip butter to make it easier to spread. As far as sweet taste goes, maybe they are using a buttery spread that isn't real butter? Or maybe they are adding honey or sugar? I couldn't say. The butter I use at home doesn't seem overly sweet to me, but quite normal.
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Yes, restaurants will often put whipped butter on the table with bread. Whipping ads air to the butter, making it easier to spread.

CD
 
MrsDangermouse said:
Thank you! I was starting to think maybe I had imagined it lol.
Whipping the butter to make it easier to spread does make sense....and shouldn't in theory change the taste. I definitely didn't like the added sweetness though.


In terms of the upscaleness of the places.....well it probably varied. I definitely remember seeing it hotel breakfasts though....but that doesn't really help because they could have been at a Marriott, Sheraton, Holiday Inn, Best Western, or a boutique place. I do remember the butter(?) being served in little round pre-packaged pots though (I soon learned to look out for the ordinary rectangular pats of butter instead).


Actually that reminds me of another butter pet-peeve...when a hotel or restaurant takes those little individual pats of butter straight from the fridge to serve them or store them on ice....how on earth are you supposed to spread them? If I'm in a hotel with a toaster I usually put the butter pats on top of the toaster whilst I'm waiting for my bread to come through :okay:
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Keep in mind, restaurants here operate under strict health and safety codes. That is both a good thing, and a bad thing. The good thing is, you are less likely to get sick from your food. The bad thing is, you get served butter in small, individual packets right out of the cooler.

CD
 
caseydog said:
His band was The Mothers of Invention. Also made famous in the Deep Purple song, Smoke on the water.

Frank Zappa and the Mothers
Were at the best place around,
But some stupid with a flare gun
Burned the place to the ground.

CD
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I owned one of their albums, inherited from one of my older sisters when she left home.
 
caseydog said:
Keep in mind, restaurants here operate under strict health and safety codes. That is both a good thing, and a bad thing. The good thing is, you are less likely to get sick from your food. The bad thing is, you get served butter in small, individual packets right out of the cooler.

CD
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Case-in-point: about a year ago, we stopped at a diner, maybe 15 miles from the house, just over the county line.

We ordered breakfast, which included toast, and ordering off the menu like that, they usually butter the toast in the kitchen. Slap, slap, butter on.

This time, though, she brought out the food, and the toast was dry. She reached in her apron and pulled out little packets of margarine and said, "Sorry, you have to butter that yourself. New rule from the county health department, restaurants aren't allowed to butter toast any more."

:laugh:
 
flyinglentris said:
I prefer Wendy's when I go for fast food Hamburgers, or In-N-Out Burgers.
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Yes, I prefer Wendy's to McDonalds. As for In-N-Out, they don't have any outlets remotely near where I live, so I guess I'll have to wait on trying them!


TastyReuben said:
Butter in restaurants - yes, it's fairly common that butter will be whipped to make it easier to spread, and yes, it's also fairly common that butter in restaurants will have a little sweetener mixed in - usually a touch of honey.

Also yes, depending on where you are and the...upscaleness?...of a place, you may very well be getting margarine, or butter with additives (like oil) or some other manufactured all-purpose spread. Sometimes "butter" is used as a generic term, just like "cream" for coffee might be anything from skim milk to heavy cream, or a non-dairy concoction, and just like "maple syrup" might end up being corn syrup with artificial flavorings, and don't get me started on "orange" juice... :)
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Butter is often whipped at "higher class" restaurants, but normal butter usually spreads fine at diners, too. I absolutely hate it when sweeteners are mixed in.

Interesting about the "pseudo-butters". Thanks for learning this....

Regards "maple syrup" here in New England depending on the scale of the establishment (high end it is always maple syrup, but if you are at a diner...) what they will do is tell Syrup - which is NOT maple - but offer you a bolus of real maple syrup for anywhere from $1 to $3 dollars extra. If it is one dollar, I pay the price, and if it is three dollars, since I only use about a tablespoon rr two on pancakes, I tell them just give me butter and skip ANY syrups.

Back in my working days - they had a breakfast area and served toast, bagels and (sometimes) English muffins. With hard as rocks butter pats that would NEVER melt. Which is why I learned to put cream cheese on my toast rather than butter! Especially since one couldn't buy just half a bagel. I used to note this every time they posted "food questionnaires", but they never ever put the butter out of the freezer when they first got there to prep any morning.
 
Mountain Cat said:
Regards "maple syrup" here in New England depending on the scale of the establishment (high end it is always maple syrup, but if you are at a diner...) what they will do is tell Syrup - which is NOT maple - but offer you a bolus of real maple syrup for anywhere from $1 to $3 dollars extra. If it is one dollar, I pay the price, and if it is three dollars, since I only use about a tablespoon rr two on pancakes, I tell them just give me butter and skip ANY syrups.

Back in my working days - they had a breakfast area and served toast, bagels and (sometimes) English muffins. With hard as rocks butter pats that would NEVER melt. Which is why I learned to put cream cheese on my toast rather than butter! Especially since one couldn't buy just half a bagel. I used to note this every time they posted "food questionnaires", but they never ever put the butter out of the freezer when they first got there to prep any morning.
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A restaurant anywhere in the North US where maple trees are abundant (especially in NE where maple syrup is HUGELY popular) would be in serious doo-doo if they served syrup that wasn't maple and didn't tell their customers!
 
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JAS_OH1 said:
In-N-Out is mostly a West US thing. We don't have them here in OH, either.
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Well, you folks back east are missing something. In-N-Out Burgers aren't so unique, but they peal their own potatoes on the spot, to make French Fries. The In-N-Out fast food has a sort of crispness to it.
 
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