Grass-Fed Cows Make the Kerrygold Difference
In Ireland, cows roam free in fresh air and graze in lush pastures of tender grass. From this benign environment and extraordinary diet come luscious milk so rich in beta-carotene, it can turn butter and cheese into a natural gold.
You can taste that difference, some experts believe. "Kerrygold has a distinctive flavor - it's a rich, creamy butter," says Cathal Armstrong, chef-owner of Restaurant Eve in Alexandria, Va. "What I believe is, because of Ireland's pasture-fed cattle - they're not fed grain - it has a different taste. The soft green Irish grass gives it its distinctive flavor."
Armstrong, a nominee for the 2007 Best Chef Mid-Atlantic Award by the James Beard Foundation and one of Food & Wine magazine's Ten Best New Chefs of 2006, selected Kerrygold as the restaurant's butter after doing a comparative tasting of the premium brands. "It has a distinctive palate feel - a creamy texture without the typical waxy finish," he explains. Armstrong uses the salted butter for the table and some baking, and unsalted for all other cooking.
Age-Old Practices
While Americans are now rediscovering the benefits of grass feeding cows, the Irish have never wavered, recognizing that cows are natural ruminants and grass is their natural diet. Dairy cows, milk and butter have been part of Irish society for thousands upon thousands of years, according to the Cork Butter Museum in Cork city, Ireland. Cattle have been in Ireland since 3500 BC.
Much of the milk from dairy cows was turned into butter. The Cork Butter Exchange, a market created by the merchants of Cork city in 1770, was in its time, the largest butter market in the world, exporting butter as far away as Europe and America.
Today, most of the milk from Ireland's small dairy farms go to local co-ops, where milk is collected, then sent on to be made into butter and cheeses using age-old processes. The supplier cooperatives have formed a distribution, marketing and selling cooperative, the Irish Dairy Board. The Board exports the dairy products the world over, on behalf of its member farmers and processors. This form of cooperation ensures the viability of Ireland's small family farms.
The resulting dairy products are all-natural. Cows are not given growth hormones that can find their way into the milk, and butter and cheeses are made without additives or preservatives. Irish Dairy Board products are exported to more than 80 countries. In the United States, they are sold under the Kerrygold brand to supermarkets and specialty stores around the country.
Kerrygold - Best-Selling Imported Butter in the U.S.
Kerrygold Butter is the most purchased imported butter in the United States, according to AC Nielsen's report for the 52 weeks ending June 30, 2007. With 34 percent unit sales growth, it's one of the fastest growing butters among the top 20 brands purchased by Americans.
The butter is so appealingly golden that it looks as though it has been colored, although the color is natural, coming from the beta-carotene in the intense green Irish grass consumed by the cows. Made in the style of all premium European butters, Kerrygold's higher fat content gives its butter a distinctive richness. The foil wrapper preserves freshness and premium quality. Three types of butter are available:
- Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter is a sweet cream, premium butter, available in 8-ounce gold foil blocks or 8.8 ounce tubs; it's made with cream and salt.
- Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter, Unsalted, is made with cultured pasteurized cream and comes in 8-ounce silver foil blocks.
- Kerrygold Garlic and Herb Butter is made with Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter, with chives, parsley, garlic and other fresh herbs, salt and spices added; it's sold in 3.5-ounce sticks.
Kerrygold Cheeses - Proprietary Irish Flavors
Kerrygold makes a variety of cheeses, including cheeses that are exclusive to the cooperative, such as Dubliner, Ivernia and Blarney Castle. All the cheeses are suitable for a cheese board. Do as they do in Ireland by serving cheeses with chutney, a scattering of toasted nuts, and some fresh or dried fruit.
Most Kerrygold cheeses are available in seven-ounce blocks in unique parchment packaging. The following types are crafted by the Irish Dairy Board:
- Kerrygold Dubliner Cheese is a mature cheese with a rounded flavor and a natural hint of sweetness. It has elements of a mature Cheddar with the bite of an aged Parmesan.
- Kerrygold Aged Cheddar has a distinctive, creamy taste and firm, smooth body.
- Kerrygold Reduced Fat Aged Cheddar has the same great taste as Kerrygold Aged Cheddar but with 48 percent less fat.
- Kerrygold Reserve Cheddar has a stronger, more intense flavor than regular Kerrygold Aged Cheddar. It is aged an extra year longer to concentrate flavors but still maintains a rich and creamy quality.
- Kerrygold Red Leicester has an orange-red color from annatto, a natural food coloring. It resembles Cheddar, but with a higher moisture content. The flavor is mellow, with a tangy aftertaste.
- Kerrygold Ivernia, the newest addition to the Kerrygold line, is a hard-grating, Italian-type cheese with a fresh, piquant flavor. It is aged for three years to develop elegant, complex flavors. The cheese is embedded with an intricate Celtic design.
- Kerrygold Blarney Castle Cheese is a natural semi-soft, part skim cheese reminiscent of a young Gouda.
- Kerrygold Swiss Cheese has a smooth texture and mild, sweet, nutty taste and is characterized by its evenly distributed holes.
About the Irish Dairy Board:
The Irish Dairy Board, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a cooperative of dairy farmers and a major exporter of cheese, butter and other Irish dairy products worldwide. The Board's American headquarters is located in Evanston, Illinois.
