it's time we talk about butter!!

the fascination & fashion-ization of an "It Girl" ingredient.

A message from your easy, breezy, butter girl!

I owe you an apology.

This newsletter is titled “Butter Service”, and here we are, eight weeks in and not a single mention of it (excluding recipes, of course).

I’m sorry. I’m going to make it right. It’s time we talk about butter.

What I love about butter:

I love it melted and poured over popcorn. I love a cold, thick slab on a piece of baguette and I especially love when my front tooth gap leaves an indent after I take a bite. I love that it makes croissants croissant and puff pastries puff. I love the richness and silkiness it adds to a sauce. I love the bright yellow of good French butter. I love that it is the simplest of ingredients and makes everything… better.

What I hate about butter:

I hate how it feels on my hands after I touch it. I hate when the package rips and you can’t fold it up neatly anymore. I hate the sad, pale beige of most North American grocery store butters. I especially hate how grossly expensive it is, even for the sad, pale beige stuff.

#nofilter | The French really do butter better, at les Avant-Comptoirs, Paris, 2023

Butter has been an “It Girl” ingredient for the last couple of years, and not just on the food scene: in August of 2024, J. Crew launched a new handbag with the real thing photographed alongside its butter-sculpted counterpart. More recently, and more food related, KitchenAid released their 2025 collection naming “Butter” the 2025 Colour of the Year.

“Whether it’s sculpted from butter or crafted in Italian leather, our new Edie bag is a work of art 💛” - J. Crew, August 2024

Butter represents decadence, but also comfort and softness. It’s simple and familiar but elegant and playful, too, especially when molded or sculpted into seashells, cowboy boots, or the aforementioned handbag. Food as a medium for artists is on the rise, maybe even a regular occurrence. When I see butter being sculpted into parts of Michelangelo’s David (no, not THAT part), I can’t help but be reminded that food is, or at least can be, an aesthetic and visual experience as much as anything else.

And as an actual ingredient? Well duh, butter is delicious—we knew that already—but this renewed interest isn’t limited to fashion or beauty brands. For a long time, the collective attitude towards butter was that it was fatty, thus unhealthy, and to be avoided. As the narrative and demonization around fats, and butter, has changed, chefs, producers, and consumers across the [butter] board (a 2024 TikTok trend gone by) seem to be paying it closer attention, be it through a renewed appreciation for classic French pastry, an emergence of boutique butter brands, or the rise (or maybe second coming?) of simple bread and butter on restaurant menus.

So, butter is having a “moment” both in and out of kitchens. Here’s what this indicates, yet again, to me: food, art, and fashion (i.e. culture) are intrinsically linked, feeding into and off of one another.

As a devotee to butter and also to butter yellow, I, for one, am here for it.

Thanks for being here!

ksenia,
your easy, breezy, butter girl.

No recipe, but bonus intel on salted vs. unsalted butter, and how to make them work for you, below!!