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#116790 11/29/03 07:56 AM
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Well, then; enough said.

Ron.


Ron.
#116791 11/29/03 02:33 PM
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well, father steve, you're right that butter does have an etymology that brings it back to cows..and cheese. but the American heritage dictionary, right from the start has (see highlight) fruit and nuts spreads called butters.

and there is also the mineral, butter of antimony, which is a soft metal, and called a butter.


BUTTER
NOUN: 1. A soft yellowish or whitish emulsion of butterfat, water, air, and sometimes salt, churned from milk or cream and processed for use in cooking and as a food. 2. Any of various substances similar to butter, especially: a. A spread made from fruit, nuts, or other foods: apple butter. b. A vegetable fat having a nearly solid consistency at ordinary temperatures. 3. Flattery.

ETYMOLOGY: Middle English butere, from Old English, from Latin btrum, from Greek boutron : bous, cow; see gwou- in Appendix I + tros, cheese; see teu- in Appendix I.

also see
butyraceous

SYLLABICATION: bu·ty·ra·ceous
PRONUNCIATION: byt-rshs
ADJECTIVE: Resembling butter in appearance, consistency, or chemical properties.
ETYMOLOGY: Latin btrum, butter; see butter + –aceous.


in the US, the FDA (food and drug administraion) regulate 'food terms' so producers can't just call anything 'preserves' --preserves have to have chunks of fruit, preserved in a thick syrup created with sugar and pectin. Jam is crushed fruit, or fruit puree in sugar and pectin, and jelly is clear fruit juice, thickened with sugar and pectin. all the 'defination' indicate how much fruit there is to be in relation to sugar... i don't think they have a 'defination' for fruit butter, (they might) Schmuckers makes 'just fruit spread' its made with consentrated fruit juice (instead of sugar) and it can't be called 'jam' or 'jelly' (which they make an 'issue' of in the commercial.--without explaining why it can't be called jelly)

Apple butter would clearly be 'jam' since it contains pureed apples, not chunks, or whole apples. strawberry preserves (and raspberry, etc) have to have chunks or whole fruit.

there is a defination for marmalade too, (what percentage of fruit to peel, to sugar) but i never made marmalade, so i never read up about it.


#116792 12/01/03 12:29 AM
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>2. Any of various substances similar to butter, especially: a. A spread made from fruit, nuts, or other foods: apple butter. b. A vegetable fat having a nearly solid consistency at ordinary temperatures.<

So, then, by this definition wouldn't paté qualify as butter...as in liver butter? mmmm...yum



#116793 12/01/03 12:38 AM
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"What other parts, pray tell?"

and

"It is those silly Aussies who call it peanut paste."


There's variation throughout the country. Growing up in Sydney, New South Wales, I called it "peanut butter". This was common usage; despite the fact my English father called it "paste".

Arriving in Western Australia in 1984 I noted it was called "peanut paste". I even recall that "paste" was used on the label of the same brand we'd bought in NSW; pandering to the local market nae doot.

And what about lemon butter? (Or lemon "curd" according to the English parent). Food of the gods. Eggs (lots of them), sugar (cups of it), butter and lemon juice. Yum!! Sold at school fetes, roadside produce stalls and CWA (Country Womens' Association) matrons in their eternal fundraising quests to improve their community facilities. Tried the commercially produced stuff once (25 years ago) but it was rubbish so am on my own eternal quest; stopping at every roadside stall on my trips away - just to grab all the marmalade and lemon butter on offer!

stales


#116794 12/01/03 12:44 AM
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>It is those silly Aussies who call it peanut paste.

Thanks, padre, but I'm still waiting to find out what parts of the English-speaking world call it peanut paste.


#116795 12/01/03 01:05 AM
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There are those who doubt (with good reason) that the US of A is a nation in which English is spoken.




#116796 12/01/03 01:19 AM
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Or either the only place, one.


#116797 12/01/03 08:19 PM
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I think the difference between fruit butters and jams etc. is the cooking method which doesn't involve pectin. The fruit is cooked into a thick paste but doesn't jell(y). The term butter is descriptive, it spreads, rather than etymolgical. After all creamed corn has no cream (so now they have to call it "cream-style corn" in Canada").
Incidentially in the Netherlands you find "pinderkaas" which translates as peanut cheese.


#116798 12/01/03 08:23 PM
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We bought some "hand made style" tortillas the other day.

Cream, on the other hand, has no etymological connection with dairy products.

http://www.bartleby.com/61/23/C0732300.html


#116799 12/02/03 01:26 PM
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Re:After all creamed corn has no cream (so now they have to call it "cream-style corn" in Canada").


fresh corn, as its cut off the cob, exudes its own 'milk' a white liquid with about 4 percent fat--and some starch and other proteins. creamed corn, (old fashioned creamed corn) was corn that was shucked, and skin of the kernals broken, so that they would leak this milk, and the corn was then cooked its its own 'milk' which thickened as it evaporated, making a 'cream sause'.

there is no cream in cream of wheat, but ground wheat will also make a creamy gruel-- by a different process than creamed corn, but it still has a cream name. Does Canada require the breakfast cereal to be called cream-style of wheat?

other fruits & vegetable also have milk and cream--most spectacularly, coconuts.
(and soybeans, and peanuts, and almolds, to name a few others)


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