13 fancy gourmet butters and where to buy them in Singapore

Support local and try out Meraki Butters, the brainchild of private chef and food stylist Ryan Foo. The Asian in you will delight at the range of tantalising flavours such as kombu, salted egg with curry leaves and Sichuan mala. We hear that the kombu and mala compound butters are the most popular, but with seasonal flavours in the mix, it’s honestly hard to choose. So, you’ll be relieved to know that you can mix-and-match the spreads in bundles of two or three (from $20). There are endless ways to enjoy Meraki Butters’ products, but for some extra inspiration, check out its Butter Bible for recipes too.

Buy www.merakibutters.com

A favourite starter on Cure’s menu is Sourdough Bread, a twist on the traditional Irish bacon and cabbage soup dish. A basket of homemade sourdough is served with brined cabbage and the star – bacon butter. Made in-house with heavy Australian cream, this porky spread is now available on Cure’s online ordering platform. We recommend taking a leaf from Cure’s book and serving it at home with toasty slices of homemade bread for a delectable start to your meal.

Buy www.order.curesingapore.com

Le Beurre Bordier has been called the best butter in the world, and you can get it right here in Singapore. Jean-Yves Bordier, the third generation in a family of cheesemakers, uses a 19th-century butter-making technique called malaxage that involves a wooden machine to knead the butter to its desired texture. It is then skilfully shaped with handheld tools that date back to the French Revolution. This painstaking handicraft gives Bordier butter its unmistakably complex flavour and luxuriant bite. To shake things up, try Bordier’s compound butters too: the signature seaweed butter will transport you straight to the coast of Brittany. Other quirky flavours include yuzu, buckwheat and garlic and herbs with Sichuan pepper.

Buy via Atout, Fave Fine Food, So France

You can never get enough of Asian-inspired compound butters, so check out Hern Hao Eats. At this outfit, butter is churned from high-quality cream, taking up to six hours to complete one batch.  Flavours run from kombu, truffle, and porcini to miso chilli, which you can buy in individual jars ($15) or in tester ($17) and full packs ($79). Do look out for its two-week specials too – so far, Hern Hao Eats has come up with intriguing flavours like uni shiso butter and squid ink garlic herb butter.  

Buy via Instagram

Echiré butter is so celebrated that it has its own shop in Japan. Maison Du Beurre in Tokyo sells the French artisan butter by itself or baked into delectable croissants, madeleines and more. This butter is prized for its Charentes-Poitou PDO status, which is awarded to a small selection of butter produced in Western France, where cows feed on top quality grass grown in abundant lime soil and the warm climate of the Atlantic coastal region. Echiré, in particular, is churned in traditional oakwood barrels and then washed in spring water from the dairy’s grounds. The result is a tangy, nutty and supple butter – bold enough to go straight on plain bread, but also perfect for the aspiring pastry chefs among us.

Buy via Cold Storage

Another French butter with outstanding provenance, Isigny Sainte-Mère originates in Normandy where cows graze in mineral-rich pastures and a warm, temperate climate by the sea. All that goodness finds its way into the milk, which is matured for up to 18 hours to allow its full flavour to develop before churning. Famous for its golden buttercup colour, Isigny Sainte-Mère butter has distinctive notes of hazelnut and milk. Butter a baguette and layer on some quality ham to make yourself a tasty French sandwich.

Buy via Meat Society

Fans of Fat Lulu’s would know of the magical kombu butter served with bread. The restaurant has closed down, but you can always get your own jar of umami goodness at Dirty Delicious – an online brand launched by Chef Sam Chablani himself. For the uninitiated, this house special butter gained cult status for its deep savoury notes of seaweed, salt and cheese. It sounds like a lot of umami, but the butter pairs like a dream with anything from plain bread to the most robust meats.

Buy www.noburnnotaste.com/shop

Get transported to the Piedmont region of Italy with a taste of Beppino Occelli butter. Famed for its sophisticated wines and cuisines, this lush terrain at the foot of the Alps is also a prime spot for high-quality dairy and hence – high-quality butter. Skimmed cream is taken from the milk of the day, so fresh that it’s apparently still warm. It is then churned to produce a pale, straw-yellow block of butter that is at once subtle and creamy.

Buy via Ferrari Food + Wine or Fave Fine Food

New Zealand is thought to produce some of the best dairy in the world. So, why shouldn’t it produce some of the best butter in the world too? That was the thinking behind Lewis Road Creamery, which first started importing milk to Singapore in 2018. Today, the creamery’s locally sourced and made butter is gaining traction at home and in the US thanks to its full-bodied character and ultra-creaminess. While the Artisan butter is only available at select high-end restaurants, you can easily grab the premium range from a Kiwi supplier right here in Singapore.  

Buy via Kiwi Kitchen

Challenge yourself with Pepe Saya butter, an Aussie take on European-style butter that packs a creamy, cheesy punch. Started in 2009 when husband and wife Pierre Issa and Melissa Altman realised that local restaurants and bakeries were importing expensive French butter, Pepe Saya’s spread is so good that it is now served on the national carrier Qantas. This family-run business sources 100 percent Australian milk from six dairies in the country and churns the cultured cream in small batches for a natural, unprocessed final product.   

Buy via Little Farms