Greece Xploring results - Leda

Leda
Leda is an artist working at home. Her favorite hobby is cooking and she is thinking to start cooking professionally; she already has a site under construction where she plans to sell cookies as it seems that this is her stronger recipe. She is in her mid 30’s, she is married with one child. She has also a column in a Greek magazine for Chinese products where she is writing one recipe per month.
She has proposed to cook her famous Easter cookies for the interview with the help of her child and her nephew. Lucky me, I had the chance to taste the cookies and take some of them as a gift!

She reports that she just loves food but she loves more to cook for others. She is constantly buying books with recipes, magazines for cooking and read about cooking on the internet; there are several blogs she is watching, blogs of people who like to talk about cooking.

She is cooking every day for the family and she often cooks for friends and extended family. She also likes to throw parties, especially for children using themes: a Halloween party with matching recipes, Easter party, Pirate party, Treasure Hunt party, always with different and theme-based recipes and decorations, most of the times hand-made.
She reports that cooking is not only for survival. Cooking for Leda is a form of art! In that context, she pays attention to the details: not only to the taste but also how the dish is served and decorated. She is ordering lots of stuff from the internet to be sure that she has enough materials to transform her dishes to art objects.
She is mainly following the Mediterranean cuisine with frequent additions from the Chinese cuisine. She also likes some American and British recipes and she has many recipe books from international and British chefs.
She is going to the super market for most of her purchases. She is also interested at bio products. She reports that she tries to buy fruits and vegetables for a bio shop since she is very worried about all the chemicals and hormones we take by eating. She reports that shopping at bio shops is much more expensive than the super-market but those are money well spent. It seems that price is not the main criterion when shopping. She prefers to buy high quality materials since she has more palatable results when using them.

Butter seems to be important in her cuisine: she reports that she just loves butter and its taste and smell… She utilizes a lot of butter in her everyday cuisine and especially to her sweets as she reports that nothing tastes better than a freshly baked and warm butter cookie. She prefers buying Lurpak as she believes that it has the best taste and texture. She reports that in general, she tries to cut down calories and unneeded fats. Though, butter is still important as it offers a unique taste and pleasure to dishes that she cannot find in other substitutes.
In general, she has some brands that she considers as “favorite” brands and she is loyal: brands that she buys not only from the super market but form the internet as well. She reports that some brands in several categories are the best and she wants them even if it means that she has to purchase them abroad.

Greece- Xploring results Harry

GREECE – HARRY KALOGEROPOULOS



Harry
Journalist. Food lover. Focus on the creative aspect of cooking, yet exploring the basics of gastronomic taste. He loves Indian, Chinese and Japanese cuisine. The meeting took place at a cozy Asian restaurant in Athens, which he picked. That was an early indication of his culinary preferences.

Through his mother, Harry draws his ancestry from Izmir, a place well known for its culinary tradition. “I began to cook myself, when my mother was no longer able to cook, because she got sick. I was thirty, by then.” Ever since, cooking is of major interest for him, in terms of practicing cooking, as well as exploring the materials, either from international cuisines or with regard to the Greek nature. Harry speaks of herbs of the Greek land, which are minimally used, yet they have extraordinary gastronomic potential.
Harry sees in cooking a means of communication. He often invites friends over for dinner and cooking sets the tone of communication. “At times, I invited people and the topic was the food, itself. We were getting so absorbed that we started talking about the culinary concept of the next dinner we were to have together.”
His favorite cuisines are all from the East, namely Indian, Chinese and Japanese. Though he refers to Asian cuisines, Harry mentions different reasons for his preferences. “I have never been to India” he says. “Though, I love Indian music, I love Indian food… It’s as if I’ve been there. Indian cuisine is an explosion of flavors. If it were painting and flavors were colors, it would be Gauguin or Matisse.” By contrast, he focuses one a specific feature of the Chinese cuisine, namely the sweet taste, which is not so familiar in Greek cuisine. Whereas he sees Japanese cuisine as a “philosophical cuisine”! “It’s Zen. It’s as if you meditate.”


Shopping habits
Naturally, he has explored the ethnic little stores where he buys spices and all necessary material and foodstuffs, each time he has to cook something from the East. “It’s quite an experience” he says “because you get to those stores and often you go by the ear. It’s not easy to know all those things you can find there, the packages are not always very helpful and the people who work there cannot help you, sometimes. In the end, you find your way.”
That much for exotic material, though. Most of his shopping is done in one super-market, in his neighborhood. There are items, though, which he picks from small specialized stores, either because they are hard to find or because of a better variety he may find in those stores.


Perception of quality
Harry made it clear that he does not follow specific “trendy” directions, when it comes to nutrition. “I’m a bit skeptical with all this nutrition discourse. The experts’ opinions change quite often. I’d rather go with quite about everything, yet in moderation.” As he explains, there are almost no forbidden materials, in spite of certain norms which are in fashion, at a time. In this sense, the dilemma taste vs. health is a non issue for Harry. Taste is important, though it does not militate against health, as long as nutrition is balanced. After all, “the human body needs it all.”
Harry referred to the discourse on Mediterranean cooking and what he sees as a set of widespread misconceptions. “All of a sudden, there is a tendency to use olive oil in everything. Olive oil is great, I love it, I use it a lot myself, but it cannot replace butter, for instance. Once you need to use butter and you go with olive oil, you produce a different dish.”
He actually uses both, yet it is clear that he sees a place for each. “Traditional Greek dishes with vegetables, cooked in a pan are very well made with olive oil. You don’t need to change that. Creamy sauces, though, or roasted meats usually need butter. Not much necessarily, but it must be there.”
Harry only goes for packaged butter. Interestingly, in spite of his pursuit of variety in cooking he ended up using almost exclusively Lurpak. “I used to like the Corfu butter. I think its peppery taste is good (as a spread) in a traditional Greek breakfast. Lurpak, though, has an unprecedented finesse. I’d use it on all occasions that I use butter.”
He would use it in small portions to come up with the fine taste he is after, as well as the thickness of sauces he prepares. “Moderation is the key” he mentioned.
Or alternatively, he would mix both olive oil and butter, each time he wants to cook meat with a vegetable garnish. Harry is a great fan of wild herbs of the Greek land, which he usually picks himself. “For instance, I love kafkalithra (Tordylium apulum), a herb very few people know and even less use in cooking. I pick it myself, of course. The result may be miraculous, if you garnish meat. I’d use butter to cook the meat and olive oil to prepare the garnish.”

Greece - Xploring results - Eleni

Eleni
Eleni is in her mid 30’s, she is living alone in a family owned house-complex. She is working in the private sector in a citizens’ bureau of information.
She reports that she loves good food though cooking is something that she is not doing everyday as she has a single-person household. Though, she loves to cook for her friends and she is often organizing dinners with friends.

Eleni reports that she prefers to follow the Mediterranean and Greek cuisine. Though, she lately started to experiment with Chinese cuisine as she believes that it is rich in vegetables dishes without deep frying. She is worried about the calories and the cholesterol and she tries to find recipes that are both palatable and light. She has purchased many and different ingredients that the Chinese cuisine needs and she is experimenting with new recipes, sometimes with very good results.

She prefers shopping from the super-market where she can find everything even the Chinese ingredients she needs. She is also buying fruits and vegetables from a bio market close to her work. She is exploring bio products as she believes that they are healthier. She also visits frequently various delicatessen shops near her house or her work. She reports that those shops have a wide variety of cheese brands as well as ham and salami brands form many foreign countries. She likes to try new tastes especially in those food categories that she loves.
She also likes to eat out frequently as it is a form of socializing that is combined with tasting new recipes and foods.
Butter is one ingredient that she always has at her fridge. She eats butter as a spread with honey but she also uses it at her cooking especially for some traditional Greek recipes that are cooked in the oven based on meat and chicken. She likes the taste and smell of butter and she claims that even though she is conscious of the calories she takes, she is not willing to sacrifice butter. Though she is eating butter to smaller quantities than in the past. She is buying VITAM soft and she is loyal to her brand of choice.

She reports that she is loyal to brands though she likes to experiment with new products and brands. She is thinking that apart from the Chinese cooking recipes that she is experimenting with, she could explore other foreign cuisines as she always search for new ideas and tastes and flavors both for her and her friends who have high expectations of her cooking.
She also reports that she is watching TV cooking programs to get new ideas and sometimes the Internet. She is not buying cooking magazines as she prefers a live demonstration of the recipe cooking instead of photos of readymade dishes.

Greece - Xporing results

Anna, 44
Anna is in her 40’s and she lives alone. She is working in a State project for sustaining all the TV and radio material that the State has over the years. She reports that she is working long hours, even in the weekends. In that sense, she doesn’t have time to cook every day. Though, just because she loves cooking and good eating, she has decided that she had to find a way to eat good food even though she has no time for cooking!

She has found out that organizing is the solution to the puzzle! She is cooking only in Saturdays but she is cooking 3-4 dishes to have for the whole week. The effort she puts is amazing: she preplans the whole cooking adventure. Every Thursday she decides on the week’s menu. She is shopping every Friday all the ingredients she needs. Early Saturday morning she starts the cooking process: she gathers all the ingredients she needs for all the dishes she has planned to cook. She reports that instead of chopping onion for one recipe, she is chopping it for all 4 recipes and then she divides the chopped onion to four separate bowls. She is firstly preparing all the necessary ingredients and she then starts to cook 2-3 dishes simultaneously! She reports that the sequence of the dish cooking is also carefully planned! At the end of the cooking sessions, she usually cooks a nice cake with cocoa powder since the oven is already heated from the previous dish.

She then let the dishes to cool and then she refrigerates them into deep freezer to be certain that they will not spoil and that they will retain the entire flavor and taste. She has a cupboard full of Tupperware for storing food and etiquettes to note the day of preparation!

Her friends know well that she always have homemade frozen food and they often call to be invited for a late dinner! Those dinners have a great variety of flavors as Anna is defrosting many and different plates for her friends.

She reports that food is important for her, especially food that has rich and full taste. She is eating everything but she prefers meat and eggs and sausages even though she knows that she has to be careful not to gain weight. She loves all dairy products like milk, yogurt, cheese and certainly butter.
She is buying a Greek brand of butter that is from cow’s milk. She reports that it has a full and rich taste that she enjoys in many ways: she eats warm bread with butter and honey every morning, warm bread with butter and smoked salmon at night. She is also using butter in many recipes not only for sweets like cake but also on top of the meat or chicken she cooks in the oven. She believes that only butter can offer color and crispiness to the meat or chicken.

She is mainly following the Mediterranean cuisine and the traditional Greek recipes she has from older relatives. She is not much into international cuisine. She prefers to prepare recipes she knows well and appreciate the taste.
She is going to the super market for most of her purchases. In general, she has some brands that she considers as “favorite” brands but she is not very loyal. She keeps an eye on promotions and offers and sometimes she buys new brands. Though, butter is not one of the categories where she experiments. She claims that she is very happy with the brand she purchases.

Poland - butter is noble

Pascal (33, celebrity chef, TV host, cookbook author)

We meet at Pascal's apartment. Pascal prepares asparagus spears with butter:

PASCAL: "Butter and other fats have always been treated with contempt. The thing is that their role reminds me very much of the role of potatos. We treat both, potatos and butter, as fillers and don't think too much about their quality or characteristics. I was taught at cooking school of the importance of 'invisible ingredients' that are used throughly in the cooking process and then not really visible on a final dish or dominated by other particular tastes used by the cook"

As a professional cook educated in France I think of butter differently than it is thought of in Poland. Poles treat butter with no respect, like air. In France butter is much more important. The French prepare tastes, like garlic and have different butters for different occasions. One could even say that, given strong culinary regionalisms and diversity within the country, there is a strong butter eating culture. French really have diverse butter preparing patterns and think of it as a very particular diary product that is meant to be finished at home or prepared in accordance with an inhouse recipe by a given restaurant.

I would say that butter in Poland is simply disregarded and treated the same as salt and, let's say, beetroots. This has to do with general Polish attitude toward food, which is best depicted as fulfillment rather than pleasure. Poles do not really know the pleasure and joy of cooking, eating and the whole table culture. I think it is due to the terrible history of that region and years of culture decline and poverty.

For me butter is noble and I think one day Poles will reach and internalize conviction.

Poland - of the importance of butter

Magda (c. 50, celebrity chef, TV host, cookbook author, restaurateur)

MAGDA: "I have always treated fats as incredibly important. They are somewhat like glue that makes dishes and recipes stick together and allow other ingredients to combine easily"

BUTTER IS AN INGREDIENT

Magda serves (pyzy z mięsem) and (kluski leniwe z masłem) for me:

MAGDA: "Ages ago, when I opened my first restaurant, U FUKIERA [one of the most famous Polish restaurants and the oldest one still operating - MŻ] I had no idea of the importance of small things. Now there are multiple books one can reach to and get to know how important small things are, like Anthony Bourdain's "KIll Grill". My people simplky went to the supermarket and bought one of the butterpacks available back then. Food was of high quality anyway back in the early nineties and given the competitive circumstances it didn't matter that much that we used standard store products.

At some point, middle nineties maybe, my restaurants, three back then, were evolving fast and I decided to put an accent on perfecting each element of the restaurant process. When it came to butter, we -- my cooks and I -- suddenly realized that a lot of our failures in taste and consistency came from that area.

We therefore looked for the best butter we could get and this is how we got to the Wyszkow Diary Products, a traditional company that didn't go into highly industrialised processing and didn't settle for compromise when it came to quality.

This very strict attitude brought multiple economic problems on that company and signing wide contracts with me and then other restaurateurs from Warsaw probably saved the company. The butter and other diary products from there are still in use in each of my restaurants and present in most of my dishes.

I also use it on TV and in my cookbooks. I think that it's important to help companies like that -- the ones that care for tradition and quality".

Stories from Saudi: You are what you eat

A food lover family on their own special way…everything related to diet and healthy books…
Fat free and athletic environment…cares less about traditional food.
This is what we figured out from our meeting with um Mishaal, a 34 year old housewife having 2 attractive fit young girls.

Obesity and overweight status gets to her and she can’t stand seeing big fat persons around her.
Her daughters and husband totally agree with her way of thinking and cooking…diet and nutritious magazines are spread all over her place…though no sign of sickness or disease in the family…

“You are what you eat! According to her, “diet” doesn’t mean deprivation…Diet is an organized way of eating that by time becomes a life style…We do love food and sweets of all kinds but also quality and quantity control is “health” by itself” she clarified.
…and the idea of having 2 daughters according to her means fit shape and quality food control should start from an early age of life.

All kinds of fresh vegetables, low fat products and fresh fruits exist in her cuisine…including low fat butter… always on the menu and the provision list…Lurpak (unsalted) and Flora light. Lurpak is used in all her cooking as well as cakes and pastries…quite convinced that Lurpak is “light and easy to digest”. Flora is used at breakfast and mainly school sandwiches for the kids.

Neither heavy traditional food nor margarine is on the list of their eating habits. Grilled and boiled food are basically on her daily menu…including some light sweets from time to time…“My kids have pleasure in eating bread and butter but they always know control is there” she stated. We concluded that Lurpak is used in all her cooking, sweets, cookies and pastries...tasty, healthy and light. Mazola oil and olive oil are used when necessary. Food control lies in the quantity according to her.

Home provision is done on a weekly basis and she enjoys shopping at “Safeway” since all kinds of fresh vegetables and fruits and low fat dairy products and other diet products are always available there.

Lurpak (the silver pack) and Flora (the yellow pack) are always spotted from a distance…According to her, Flora pack is more practical and it is kept well reserved after it is opened.
We simply followed her to the kitchen to prepare lunch…spaghetti was on the menu…a small tea spoon Lurpak butter was dropped at the bottom of the pan… “Gives it flavor” she sighed. The stew was a combination of fresh minced meat, onions, fresh mushrooms, fresh green pepper and garlic. The recipe was amazing…all fried together with a little piece of Lurpak butter.

According to her butter is required and…nothing is fattening when in low quantities.

Stories from Saudi: The Husband's will

Interesting! A pure organic lady where she tries to impose her rules on her husband and 4 children (4 young gentlemen) who in turn love traditional greasy food and all kinds of junk food and care less about health and fitness…

“My husband and 4 children accuse me of being crazy, though I have to cook (against my rules) for them their requirements fear of being divorced”, she stated.

Um Nayef explained that her diversion to organic state originated 3 years ago due to a sickness she suffered from…and she feels much better today following this trend.

Five men at home with random eating habits; from bread and margarine to greasy rice and stew, fried stuff and junk food…”Lurpak and other butter brands are not acceptable by these young men…margarine their favorite…has thick taste and fulfills their satisfaction,” as Um Nayef clarified.

Funny enough, the husband does the shopping simply because he doesn’t trust her in getting their requirements the way they want. He goes to a whole sale market and gets all the groceries and required food stuff from there… fresh fruits and vegetables, family size margarine, Al-Arabi cooking oil, Shams cooking oil, meat, chicken, fish, Maggie cubes (all flavors), all kinds of spices…etc. In addition to that, he imposes a list of daily menu to be done by her on a daily basis.

She laughs sarcastically while chatting with us…”if I don’t abide by his list, he will divorce me and throw me out of the house.” Upon mentioning Lurpak, she sighed and said “I really wish to see at least one known butter brand at home especially Lurpak… great history…way healthier and lighter than margarine”.

Three main meals must be ready on daily basis…and dinner is the most important…even breakfast should be heavy with full fat milk and full fat dairy products. An extremely food lover family… with no limits and restrictions…

Cooking greasy traditional food is essential every day…Rice as a major dish cooked with margarine is a must…besides at least two heavy side dishes. Greasy traditional food gives them pleasure and satisfaction…”They love heavy food, that’s all!” It is very obvious that they care less about healthy food or light food…unlike her.

Even the selection of sweets and chocolates that were spotted in the kitchen were those of highly fatty ones.

Maybe good idea for Lurpak to be packed in margarine-like package to attract more Saudi consumers…It is all about perception…in general, Saudi’s are used to margarine and other similar packaging.

Stories from Saudi: Good Food is Healthy Food

Nof, a young (28 years old) educated, newly married manages a Diet Center in Riyadh…clear enough to know how much she is picky at healthy food…and applies this at home…”My husband agrees with this healthy life since he is athletic too”, she mentioned.

Food lover family in a healthy way… “Where is the problem in that? We can eat all kinds of healthy food and sweets with passion and on calorie scale without depriving ourselves.”

Diet and healthy magazines from all around the world were noticed in her sitting room and majority of products and brands used were low fat. Three meals / day is a must (for both her husband and her) and healthy snacks in between.

Low fat butter is highly used…Lurpak was mentioned…used in frying eggs and other issues that need to be fried…also used in sweets / cakes / cookies once per week as she noted.
Though Nof comes from a traditional culture where her mother mainly uses margarine in all meals, but her domain pulled her out to follow healthy food…and for Lurpak butter she mentioned, “Lurpak has known history in lightness and taste”.
Margarine and greasy stuff is totally forbidden at home or in the diet center.

A list of “fresh” provision is set on weekly basis where she personally enjoys buying them from Safeway Hypermarket, clarifying that a variety of exported healthy low fat food is always available at Safeway. Keeping in mind, reading ingredients on each and every product / brand is a necessity when buying.

Cooking traditional food is the least of her worries. It is not the cooking of healthy food that gives her pleasure, but the fact of staying healthy and fit is the name of her game…and for this reason, she supports her cooking knowledge by reading international healthy cooking magazines and attending related seminars.

Breakfast always consists of a piece of toast with low fat butter (Lurpak – unsalted) and low fat cheese or low fat flavored yoghurt. Cost has never been her worry especially when it comes to healthy food. Trying new healthy menus from different cultures is also of her interest.

“My pleasure is to guide people (in the center) on the right healthy track…even Lurpak butter is always on the meal list; it is the quantity in-take and not deprivation,” she declared.

We realized that Nof never follows promotions when buying food products. “All I care about is the validity date and ingredients”, she stated.

It was early evening when we managed to visit her…even her hospitality was healthy…low fat croissants and low fat cookies made by Lurpak (unsalted) butter, fresh juice the herbal tea.
The dinner menu was typical healthy (protein, soup and salad)…and she mentioned that also Lurpak was within…

Stories from Saudi: Inspired by foreign cuisines

A food lover family as we noticed…at least 4 types of food and sweets should be ready every day…especially that her husband comes home for lunch break…and therefore, lunch and dinner should be varied.
“We are Saudi, yet we love international cuisines especially Italian, Chinese and Indian food…Mexican food has a part too…and chef Ramzi is an ideal cook” she admitted.

 As noticed, she rarely uses canned and frozen stuff…basically all fresh…from vegetables to fruits to main course ingredients. Very creative in cooking and trying new food…First and most of all to “Please” her husband then follows her children’s taste. Margarine and grease are interdicted in her menus, not that anyone suffers from sickness at home, but just for fitness and healthiness…Most of her shopping is from “Safeway” hypermarket, admitting that “Safeway is the only hypermarket that exports variety if international goods to foreigners here…and this suits our eating habits and menus…yet more expensive than other hypermarkets…but promotions are always everywhere.”

Kids sandwiches to school…breakfast is essential…Jam and butter…Sugar intake is essential in the morning to boost their metabolism.
Lurpak (unsalted) and Flora (light) butter were spotted as well as “Afia oil lite”… “Light in taste and content and the most important is their constant promotion; yes I do believe in promotions and follow their ads…like the outdoor now of Lurpak…just a great idea to win a ticket to Paris”.

(I felt) her belief was stronger in the winning issue than the loyalty of the brand, and it was obvious she might shift to another brand if other bigger prizes / trips are involved. Typical perception of Saudi people…they believe in ads…

Oil and butter are the most essential products in cooking whether sweets or food. We as a family of 7 (including 2 maids) consume butter and oil a lot. “I get bulks of butter both Lurpak and Flora and store them in the freezer…for us both brands are the same…it is only a habit of buying two different brands especially that both are tasty, healthy and always one of them is on promotion”.

It was noon time when we managed to visit her…the smell of curry powder and spices overwhelmed the atmosphere…”My husband loves Curry with chicken and rice and green salad… pizza, and other side dishes for the children, butter is used more in cooking than oil; I only use oil when frying French fries, chicken nuggets or similar to the children”.

An up-to-date cuisine…rarely cooks traditional food…always looks for new recipes of food and foreign sweets (cakes, pastries, pies…).

Mashael, a 38 year old Saudi house wife, believes in chef Ramzi’s cooking as well as “fatafeet” channel…cooking new recipes of new cultures gives her the pleasure… She finalized, “my children might end up abroad one day, and therefore let them get used to different tastes from now”.

Stories from Saudi: Keeping up Traditions

“Margarine…compensates”, Um Mohammed a 45 year old lady (married, 5 children) started her conversation with. A pure believer in margarine…”gives taste to food and is healthy according to her”.

An extremely traditional woman in cooking…where she believes kitchen is the source of health and nutrition…looks for all kinds of traditional Saudi food and sweets…everything related to Saudi traditional cuisine rice, jreesh, Kabsa, Samboosa…local sweets…

A contradictive woman…relating kitchen to health and nutrition, yet uses margarine, canned and frozen stuff…easy to use and quick in preparation. We understood from her that margarine has always been used in the family (great grandmother downwards) and she believes in maintaining traditions and cultural values even within food.

Butter is not used at home… “No formula says butter is healthier”…  According to her, ‘butter has no taste.”…not of her interest…margarine is even used in sweets…and as she mentioned, “why to worry about obesity or health issues…it doesn’t exist in the family and thanks God everybody is fine”.

 Local supermarkets such as “Othaim” are more of her interest, since it involves all kinds of local Saudi products with cheaper prices compared to other supermarkets. “We are a big family and we can neither afford trying new sophisticated menus nor expensive products. Local supermarkets are cheaper and understand the Saudi needs more than foreign ones; plus on constant promotions all the year through within our targeted products: Macaroni, spices, Maggie flavors, family size margarine, dairy products (local milk & relevant), cooking oil (Shams)”…I basically buy local brands…everything is available within local brands and cheaper as well”, she clarified.

Indirectly, Lurpak was mentioned…spontaneous aggressive reaction: “Denmark…they insulted the Profit (Peace Be upon Him).” Already butter (all kinds) is not used at their homes (to shift brand) and the grudge was very clear towards Denmark. “Even if free of charge, we will never use products related to Denmark…it is not only my opinion but all our family”. (She was so aggressive on this subject).

Quite convinced margarine is indispensable… when cooking cakes, croissants, local sweets of all kinds and other pastries, even a teaspoon of margarine in all kinds of soup…has lots of interest to create and try new menus yet related to the Saudi culture..

Attached to the Saudi values, she roams around the old generation in her family to learn and get new menus of food and sweets. “Why should I watch cooking programs or read new menus when I can learn the original from my mother & grandmother? Saudi menus require margarine and not butter”…
We noticed even if a certain foodstuff requires butter, automatically she replaces it with margarine convinced that it is “tastier”…more important the “family size margarine” lasts longer.
Food lovers of traditional cuisine…Following family ancestors’ books is sacred…in particular using margarine in all types of food and sweets. Butter is not in their dictionary…we even realized that the kids to school are accompanied with (Marai) spread cheese / spread cream sandwiches.

Thursday night family dinner is sanctified (in any of their homes). Five to six main dishes (rice and relevant) are prepared in addition to other side dishes… all homemade…all requires butter…yet to them, margarine is tastier…margarine is the tradition.

Stories from Saudi: Making a Living

“Now that I have grown up…ummm I can eat and cook anything I want without criticism from here and interdiction from there, and thanks God I got married to a man who also loves food…and we crave together…whether sweet or sour,” Jawaher, a 32 year old married Saudi lady admitted.
Being overweight, I understood from her that that all her surrounding used to criticize her weight, the way she eats and her eating habits… “The more I heard criticism, the more I used eat anything that comes in front of me...especially fatty food... bread, butter, sweets.”

Through our recruiter, we managed to meet Jawaher in her simple apartment…A gifted child as I could see...food (and sweets) has always been her passion and she developed this talent into a profession…cooks all kinds of food and sweets and sells as “home-made” food to all her friends on different occasions…first to support her husband financially and second cooking is her passion.

The main source of entertainment especially here in Riyadh is either eating or shopping…and Jawaher prefers hypermarkets shopping to malls shopping…unlike women in general. “Food in general is my best friend…I seek pleasure out of eating and preparing food…I prefer hypermarkets to HFS because I guarantee that all sophisticated ingredients are there”.

Always looks for new menus yet traditional to satisfy her customers especially the old generation…those who like traditional cuisines. A very well organized lady…shopping list always ready and gets what is needed for family cooking or for outside catering… for all kinds of food & sweets…”I usually do the shopping, but sometimes when I am over busy, I send the driver with the list…”





As we noticed, rice is a must in any of her menus. Different dishes names but all consist of rice…either with meat or chicken…
“Basically, I always follow promotions on all the ingredients / products that I need, since I buy in bulks: pastries of all kinds, Marai butter, Shaley milk powder (full fat), Maggie flavors, Delico margarine, Al-Wazeer olive oil, frying oil, India Gate rice, Beshamelle sauce, Macaroni & other noodles, fresh vegetables & fruits, chicken and meat and many other issues”.

Off to the kitchen, Jawaher had to prepare dinner for husband…and a dish of rice was a must within the menu. “Dinner is our main meal, she clarified”. “Kabsa” is the dish tonight with of course other minor dishes.


On a tidy corner the ingredients were ready (by the maid). Rice, chicken, onion, Mazola oil, Al-Wazeer oil, spices, vegetables and other stuff…
No butter was spotted…I understood from her that margarine is mainly used in food…”it is tastier and also highly demanded by my customers”,   and butter is mainly used when preparing some sweets…and normally she uses “Marai” butter (for sweets) due to constant promotions... “and it is not bad in taste”, as she added, “but basically I follow promotions and discounts of other brands if Marai is not available”.
(Therefore, I concluded basically she uses margarine for the taste and sometimes Marai butter in sweets / and not really loyal to one brand…she is more loyal to promotions.)

According to her, main course meals are tastier with margarine…and the old generation people like to stick to traditional fatty oily cuisines.
Jawaher is not into reading cooking books...but rather into cooking shows… “Fatafeet” channel is a great one, and whenever I’m at home, that’s the only channel I watch.”

Stories from Saudi: Mrs Butter

Before I even started my conversation about food, Abir 31 years old, teacher started her conversation as “I am just a butter lover”…Jam and butter, honey and butter, cocoa butter, peanut butter…just name it!

Mrs. Butter as she is known by her family and now by her husband. She added, “There are butter people and there are margarine people. I'm a “butter” person. A pat of butter, whether melted over a thick steak or on an ear of corn, or with brown bread makes food taste better. Margarine makes food taste oily. The price is in the eating.”

Abir spends hours in the hypermarket just to find out new butter products…She scans with passion all the butter shelves and products that contain butter…while shopping in Danube…fears no taste of butter…tries all brands and all new…Butter is on the priority list always.
Lurpak is on the list for cooking issues… yet all kinds / brands of butter spreads are considered within her shopping list.

According to her, it is neither the brand nor the promotion that attracts me to butter, it is just butter!”
It is determined in her dictionary that Lurpak is for cooking and other brands are used as spread…Lurpak according to her has an extraordinary smooth taste and flavor.
Bulks are bought…storage could be either in the freezer or in the store room…all depends on the products formula.

She is a cooking fan though…but all meals should contain butter; whether traditional cuisine or international cuisines.
We followed her to the kitchen…preparing supper for her husband…”What’s on the menu?” I asked, she replied with laughter, “Appetizer as mushroom soup with a teaspoon of butter, grilled steak and grilled potato wedges covered with pat of butter, mixed salad followed by desserts”…quite sure that the desserts had butter in within.

Though criticized by all her surrounding, she cares less…Preaches from here and there that butter isn’t healthy and is fattening…least of her worries…Regular check-ups have no signs of anything to worry about…
Her main concern is her husband’s satisfaction…new dishes are served everyday which please him… highly talented in cooking variety of meals and sweets…”So why worry?” as she says…and on daily basis, a huge bowl of popcorn is set in the TV room…of course fried with butter.

Abir stays hours and hours on cooking sites in particular dishes that contains butter and creates new meals at least 3 times a week.


On a separate note, body lotion should also be butter!
One of the funniest interviews I had☺

Stories from Saudi: What men want

“Al-Arabi cooking oil, Al-Wazeer olive oil, “Farm” margarine and black olives are a must in our daily meals”, as Im Khaled a 48 year old housewife (6 children) stated.

A food lover family of oriental cuisine…always keen on discovering and trying new recipes…Chef Ramzi, Sayidaty magazine (cooking page), Fatafeet channel, Chef Afnan Zayyan…on the go with oriental food…all cooked with margarine regardless what the recipe says!

Butter is rarely used at their homes, yet Lurpak and Marai brand are there in the fridge…A traditional family attached to the cooking culture of heavy oriental food and sweets… “We enjoy eating (breakfast) bread, butter and marmalade only when we are abroad / in hotels…and sometimes (not always) the children crave for such a breakfast.”

Culture issue …as we concluded…having 5 boys (and a girl) plus her husband forces her to cook different kinds of heavy meals on daily basis. “They are men and food lovers…at the end of the day I can’t but cook their requirements and according to their taste, otherwise a problem will take place”, she stated.

The major meal is at 8:00 pm, where all gather around the dining table…First question by either of them, “What’s on the menu tonight? Kabsa or Mandi” Nothing to worry about 3 different heavy dishes and even vegetables sauté should be fried with margarine…or else they won’t be satisfied.

High consumption of (Farm) margarine, rice, chicken and spices of all kinds…Danube Hypermarket is their favorite…According to her, Danube has everything any cuisine needs…amazing  promotions and worth buying in bulks…adding to that they are cautious with products validity dates.
Just random shopping once / week…The list is only prepared for the major shopping once / month.

In their cooking process, butter is not fulfilling…butter is only a nibbling issue as appetizer or morning bite. Margarine and cooking oil are according to her are the source of energy and power…simply indispensable, bought in bulks and stored in a special cupboard…whereas few packs of Lurpak and Marai butter and other dairy products are just stored in the fridge…

The idea of shifting margarine to butter is a bit difficult for her… quite difficult to change (as she considers) their main eating habit that they inherited from the culture…plus according to her conviction, Farm margarine gives great flavor to food and sweets…and traditional oriental food is tasteless without margarine

Stories from Saudi: Women's Paradise

Im Abdel-Rahman, a 44 year old housewife (4 children), believes that kitchen is the paradise of women…and nothing but cooking represents a woman’s personality in particular in the Saudi culture.
She simply stated, “If we don’t know how to cook, then we fail our test with husbands!”

“Husband phobia” …as we concluded…

She spends all day long in the kitchen from the time she wakes up her children to school…Full course breakfast (a bite on the go is not allowed)…Tea, milk, bread, butter (Lurpak and Fursan), cheese, eggs, “foul” and…etc.
Off to school…then 3-4 kinds of dishes to be prepared for lunch …Soup, salad, rice, macaroni, Maggie flavors… a must everyday…different dish names but same ingredients…all cooked with margarine and / or Shams cooking oil.
Again preparation of snacks (variety of cold cuts sandwiches with butter), then other heavy meals for dinner…A food lover family that can’t even sleep if they are not fully quenched…

We realized the consumption of (Goody) margarine overcomes that of butter…butter is only used at breakfast and snack time…the rest food and sweets are all cooked with margarine. “Tastier” as she stated.
Traditional food lovers…where she nurtures her cooking information from her mother and grandmother…convinced that they succeeded with their husbands…and she should follow their path…and because they use Lurpak, she believes in it…

Accompanied by her husband, all their shopping is done from whole sale markets. As she mentioned, “cheaper, variety of choice and fresh goods”… random shopping (without list)… they believe “why to limit their shopping within a list when they can get everything and even more with cheaper prices from whole sale markets”.

Goody (margarine) is a must at home and bought in bulks for the whole months…stored in a special room where other canned and food stuff are stored. The other extra dairy products (cheese and butter) are stored in the freezer.

A food lover family that believes and follows all kinds of food promotions and discounts…
Her main concern is to please her husband…and all kinds of heavy meals give him pleasure in particular cooked with margarine.

Stories from Saudi: Pleasures

Within a nice district in Jeddah, Al-Anoud lives in a nice villa where the main kitchen is totally separated from the villa…it was her choice when the villa was under construction. Passion in cooking food requires a certain set up and atmosphere.
Different kinds of international cooking books…in particular Chinese & Salad menus…were placed on several shelves in the kitchen…Sayidaty magazine cooking pages also had a share… remarkable enough, a flat TV screen is placed in the kitchen and “Fatafeet channel” is of her great interest.

“Outlets in KSA mean eating…whether in parks or malls (food courts), cafés or restaurants…
Food! My pleasure, my best friend, my life…I enjoy eating and trying all kinds of cuisines…all friends envy me on the way I love food especially pastries and sweets of all kinds and I’m never over weight,” Al-Anoud stated with a laughter.

A 34 year old mother of 2 lovely girls (11 & 9)… who seem to be food lovers also… and enjoy helping in kitchen issues… according to her, kitchen and cuisine knowledge should be taught at early age...convinced that men in this culture are food lovers and women must please their needs.

Following the Saudi culture, Goody (margarine) is a must in main meals, yet butter and cooking oil are indispensable and Fursan butter and Haley cooking oil are used as we concluded…
She added, “we consume butter a lot…twice a week I bake different kinds of cakes and on daily basis I have pastries or cookies in hands…I get bulk and place them in the freezer…Plus Fursan is always under great promotions…maybe other butter brands are worth trying, but is just that we got used to these brands since our childhood…

“I enjoy doing the shopping with my kids in Danube Hypermarket according to the list in hand…and browse through all promotional sections…especially the dairy products aisle, Maggie flavors, Beshamelle sauce, flour, sugar, sweets requirements and for granted fish, chicken and meat …it is great to follow promotions and save money, why not?”
She believes that Baqalas and other HFS are always far expensive and tries to avoid them…unless something urgent is required…

Her main interest is to secure her kids & husband’s food requirements. Special baguette bread for the kids to school, jam, butter & spread cheese…in addition to home- made cookies.

Her husband’s eating habits were noticed to be related to the Saudi culture…rice (of all kinds of dishes) is a priority in major meals.
“My husband loves Goody (margarine) in meals and I can’t but respect his choice and please him; nevertheless he doesn’t mind butter in pastries, sweets and other side dishes,” Al-Anoud stated.

A typical well brought up lady whose main concern is her family’s convenience and health. Yet margarine is used and she is convinced that it isn’t good for the health…but as she mentioned, she avoids “over doing”. A little bit of this just to please her husband!

Stories from Saudi: İt's a matter of taste

Al-Johara, a 36 year old working lady (2 children) sighed, “I have no time to even do the shopping…I just prepare the list and give it to the driver.”

Al-Johara does all her cooking at night for the next day… comes home tired, yet she enjoys all kinds of cooking and always follows new recipes of Chef Ramzi or through special internet cooking sites.

Butter is something she in particular can’t live without and passed it as a habit to her husband and 2 kids.
The idea of bread, butter and jam in the morning on a trolley (hotel-like) makes her day…Butter is our favorite and a must in every meal as appetizer. Lurpak and Flora are her favorite brands…whether for breakfast, appetizer, cooking food or sweets. She believes Lurpak and Flora are light on the stomach, delicious and desired by her family…so why shift brands?

According to her, frying all kinds of mixed nuts with Lurpak gives even a heavy meal like Kabsa a total different delicious light flavor. The only frying oil used at home is Mazola…basically for the kids French fries, chicken nuggets, onions and similar.

We concluded that Flora and Lurpak butter are placed together for breakfast and as appetizers before lunch or dinner, where as Lurpak is more used in the cooking process (food or sweets).

The freezer always contains enough butter of the 2 mentioned brands…on the go, international sweets and pastries are always ready with meals…and according to her, all this require butter in within… A relaxing home…all the members of the family are pleased and agree with her eating habits / daily menus.

Their menu is divided into 2 parts / day…the one hour lunch break (quick light meal) where butter is a must on the table plus a light side dish…Then the main meal is at night…also butter is there…

“All kinds of omlettes are my kids and husband’s favorite…fried with Lurpak is a must”, she added.
Margarine and other heavy butter / grease are not on her list of menu at all…According to her, neither healthy nor tasty.
As we realize, Lurpak and Flora has a big share in this house. Price and promotion don’t mean to her in these brands. “Whether they are on promotion or not, I should get them,” she clarified.

Storıes from Saudi: It's a family affair

Um Talal, a 44 year old housewife (6 children), started aggressively by saying, “our culture is unlike other cultures…light food and snacks is not within our cuisine…and if we dare cook light food, our husbands will just walk away.” Cooking is a must at her home…fast food is not allowed, neither canned nor frozen food.

Heavy meals are required on a daily basis…and the big night is Thursday night where all the family gathers end up eating till dawn. Rice of all kinds, Macaroni, Sleek, Maggie, fried fish, Jreesh, Gorsan, Mandi… are constantly done.
Basically margarine is used in cooking heavy meals and Abu Zahra oil or Afia or Mazola is used for frying…all this to satisfy her husband’s needs; Marai butter or any other brand is used in sweets and pastries…which makes it lighter in taste…

As we realize, there is no brand loyalty for butter or oil…according to her, whichever is available (from the mentioned) she just gets…but for her, the available should be of a certain brand or at least heard of it…price is never a problem… Loyalty is shown for margarine…as they are convinced by the culture that heavy food is tastier with margarine (plus fear from husband)…and margarine should be as priority on the shopping list.

Her point of view, “I use margarine with main dishes just to please my husband at least within major meals…then sweets and pastries pass easily without dispute.”
Butter is also used sometimes with jam or cheese as sandwiches to the children.

Um Talal nurtures her cuisine knowledge through TV programs such as, Green Apple, Manal Al-Alam Kitchen…and sometimes through dieticians... She longs for leading an organized nutritious life style…which she finds impossible in the Saudi culture where rice and margarine are the title of any meal.

Shopping is done randomly without a list…Margarine and other major issues are always at the back of her mind. Accompanied by her husband to Danube Hypermarket, they pass around all shelves and pick up what is necessary for the whole week…where as the main shopping (even randomly) is done once a month from different whole sale market.


A food lover family of heavy meals…

Stories from UAE: Food Love

Naila, a 21 year old, petite, Emirati, openly declares, “I love food,” as we sit down to explore where food fits into her life.
Sipping slowly her chocolate mocha shake, she recounts how her passion for food is not a current fascination but is one right from her childhood, “I used have many children’s cook book and be in the kitchen with my mum as a kid. I really enjoy the whole process of cooking.”
As she discusses food, it becomes clear that the whole experience of food – choosing what to have, making the food & eating – is a personal one. In a way, her time with food is ‘me time.’ “Having food is satisfying yourself- you sit, eat & enjoy!”
She goes out once a week with friends. Asian cuisine being her favourite and when asked to describe the food scene in Dubai, she says, “It’s eccentric. There are lots of flavours to try out. But it’s more quantity than quality.”
Knowledgeable about popular western chefs, Naila states, “Nigella Lawson and Nigel Slater are my favourite chefs. I have their cookbooks and whenever I have time and in the mood definitely try out their recipes.” So impressed is she with their style & experience in cooking that when quizzed whether price is an influential factor in purchasing ingredients, she replies, “Both Nigela and Nigel clearly states we need good quality ingredients. For example, when making a chocolate desert, they say get, ‘good quality chocolate.’ This is a true point and so I wouldn’t compromise by buying a cheaper alternative.”
As we move deeper into the conversation, Naila shares that her family is a close knit one, however, everyone has different schedules and they don’t often end up having family meals at the table. They are health conscious & do have traditional dishes at home and some of these include Makbous (yellow rice mixed with chicken) & Marag (watery soup with veg/chicken/fish that poured into rice and eaten). When asked about the role of butter, she comments that butter is not used much in the traditional local food. However, in the traditional desserts they do use their own kind of oil is which made from butter & to which they add spices to.
“We don’t have a ritual at home about cooking/baking so whoever wants to make food goes to the kitchen and does so.”
For Naila, her interest lies in baking desserts & this is where butter features the most. Interestingly, while she mentions her interest is to try out the more challenging dessert recipes & in a month she would bake twice, she categories butter with basic cooking ingredients like salt, flour, sugar and explains she doesn’t go out looking to buy it. “Vanilla Chocolate mousse cake is one of the challenging recipes that I’ve tried out. It came out ok,” she shares with a smile and continues, “I don’t go shopping for butter, it’s always there at home.”
She thinks a bit before answering why butter is in the background. She states wouldn’t use a substitute for butter in her baking & while she does mention Lurpark, she admits not being brand conscious about the butter. “Butter is in our homes already so rather remind me about spreading it on bread; it needs to go a step further. They need to emphasise the difference.”

It seems butter is a not so much a boring ingredient but more a staple & basic ingredient that apart from wanting it in the food there is no extra love for it. In Naila’s case, it seems that to bring butter in the spotlight is to champion butter as being a key ingredient in making food just that much more delectable.

Stories from UAE: Yummy in my Tummy

Nidhi is a food explorer. She enjoys it and definitely makes you want to shake out of your food comfort zone.
Food exploring happens on the weekends & she has many tales to tell. A key learning from her food exploring, is the best food is usually found in restaurants that aren’t popular simply because of the marketing push. One such nugget of a place is a seafood joint on Jumeirah beach road. Bu Qtair is a small cafeteria style, it has around 5-6 tables and is always packed, offering the most amazing seafood & prawns. “The food is amazing!”
For a food explorer like herself, it’s not a surprise she has a celebratory view of food, “Food brings friends and family together.”
Not one to merely be on the eat side of food; she also cooks for family & friends, and when she does so she never compromises on the ingredients used. And this is where butter features. On occasions when she is cooking for family and friends, she uses butter because of the flavor it gives to the food. Some of the dishes where butter is used includes, Dal Makhani, Paneer, Butter Chicken, Pasta with Alfredo sauce & rice.
On a more daily basis, she would use butter for toast or scrambled eggs.
Interestingly, there isn’t a specific butter brand she is particular about. This means that all the importance given is to the butter, none to the brand. The brand doesn’t seem to exert an influence on the final quality of the butter.
As for ingredients, she has an affinity to pick the more local offering. For basic items such as Dal she mentions she is price sensitive. However, if she is buying ingredients like shallots, mushrooms, leeks, that will be used for specific dishes, she would pick up the exact quantity needed rather just buy a big handful. 
As open as she is to food, she does have reservations about fast food. It’s not a healthy option and rather than have fast food like a burger, she would choose to have more Indian quick food snacks.
Her exploring with food has also made her observant about trends in the food scene and she shares a few major ones:
1.    More people eating & experimenting with seafood. Seafood is more in the mainstream cuisine.
2.    There is a greater offering in groceries to prepare different cuisines. You can make a thai green curry sauce and this helps people experiment and try new dishes from different cuisines.
3.    More health conscious, so there is a move towards less snacks and the use of olive oil in foods.
4.    The different kinds of diets (e.g. South Beach, Atlkins). Diets give you a more behind the scenes info on each type of food and this influences your choice and intake quantity of food.
5.    The marketing push that seems to campaign for people to try out a product/ingredient
For food explorer, the adventure and the joy of exploration is ultimately boils down to the process and the experience of savoring the food. It would be interesting to consider how much of that emotion can be infused into a single ingredient to transform it into a hero ingredient or the instigator of excitement into everyday meals.
In the case of butter, there isn’t a debate of whether it’s a right ingredient, as much as, is it a healthy option or if its offering is strong enough to overlook a healthier option on a regular basis.
If it’s exciting enough, it will have pull regardless.

Stories from UAE: The Baker's Thumb

Talking to Heidi makes you realise that while some people have a ‘green thumb’, here was a person with a ‘baker thumb!’
As we talk food, the frequency in which terms like ‘texture,’ ‘moist,’ & ‘crumbly’ spring up in the conversation hints her knowledge of food is not textbookish. It’s result of enjoying food. Moving deeper into the conversation, you suddenly wish, you had the same food intellect to make food connoisseur like comments like she does!
‘I’ve always been into food as a kid,” Heidi states, “In my family I’m the one who is the most enthusiastic about cooking.”
Interestingly, she recounts that as a kid, she was not excited about attending birthday parties because of food that would be normally be served, “Other kids would be happy with the hot dog and the pizza slice. Not me, I preferred a proper meal.”
Not a fast food junkie, she prefers more homemade food. She might occasionally eat fast food but it’s more a last resort scenario. “If I’ve eaten fast food I usually feel guilty afterwards. I prefer to have homemade food where I know what ingredients have gone into making the food.” A simple homemade sandwich scores high on her list of right items to eat versus a McDonald’s burger.
For a food connoisseur like her, it’s no doubt that Italy is placed as her favourite destination for good food, “I had the best pizza’s in Florence, Krusitini, awesome risotto & amazing tiramisu.” She adds that the fact the food is so fresh & because it’s not complicated –it’s not a crazy mix of ingredients that leaves you wondering what you’re eating –is what really Italian food has in its favour.
She also reveals that food blogs are a good source of information and inspiration for her. One of her favourite blogs is http://cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com/. 
While does she cook savoury and main courses, her first love is baking desserts. “I love the transformation. One moment you’re working with a mixture & in the next step of the process, the mixture has become a nice solid cake for example. The end result is beautiful.” She also comments that apart from the physical transformation and taste you also get to enjoy the wonderful smells that come with baking desserts.
So as one, who loves to bake, does butter feature as key ingredient?  It certainly does. Furthermore, Heidi firmly states that you can’t replace butter for a substitute; you won’t get the same result as when you do use butter. Substitute it and you miss out on the flavour, texture etc. “I use olive oil as a substitute in my savoury cooking, it’s a healthier option. But when I’m baking, I use butter because there isn’t a substitute for butter to get the same end result.”
Apart from butter being used in baking, she also uses it when making scrambled eggs, on sandwiches or on toasted bread. Reason? Again because of the flavour.
While she doesn’t substitute butter, she doesn’t mind substituting other ingredients. For example she recounts how in Egypt it was extremely difficult to get sour cream to make cheesecake. Rather than drop making the dessert, she found that a special type of Labeneh could be used instead because it offered the same texture and flavour. 
The health factor plays important role and she does mention that though using butter in food is far superior, in her savoury dishes she uses olive oil because it’s healthier. If butter could be a healthier offering, or if there was a butter brand option where using a smaller amount provided the same result in terms of flavour, then it would still be a chosen everyday option.
What also becomes clear is because of the amount of baking she does, she is conscious of the brands and the prices. She explains how Geant, a hypermarket close to her residence, had a great value offering on the butter brand President. “When normally there is a price offering, it could mean that the product has a close expiry date. In this case, it was not & I picked quite a few of the butter bars because of the value offering.”
She gives a cultural titbit as she describes the butter scene in Egypt, “Butter is Egypt is usually purchased in bulk. You normally go to the store and purchase it at the counter butter. They have in blocks and it’s not branded. If you ask the guy where the butter is from the usual response is it’s from ‘Hollandi’ (from Holland).” Egyptians also butter to make ghee, they never buy ghee. Blocks of butter is melted, with the liquid portion used as Ghee and the dense portion that settles at the base when the butter is melted, known as ‘Morta’, has a cheese like texture and taste & is eaten with bread.
With regards to the availability of products, she observes Dubai has a good product offering in the supermarkets. However, sometimes it’s hard to find certain brands, “You usually don’t have supermarkets/hypermarkets always stocking up on the best ingredients for baking, like certain premium cooking chocolate. When I do find them I usually buy a good amount.”
Ultimately, for a person like Heidi, butter scores high and it would have been more of favourite ingredient if there was health advantage to it. This is seems to be challenge – How to make butter a healthy option? It has everything else in its f(l)avour.