Inspired by France’s finest, this small Yarra Valley-based butter producer is attempting to transform a simple kitchen staple into a dining table centrepiece. To do this, they’ve resurrected machinery all but lost to history, delved deep into the world of bacterial cultures, and released a range of unique and thought-provoking cultured butters – and they say this is only the beginning.
Here’s Madeleine founder Jack Gaffney with the As to the Qs.
Give us the elevator pitch: what makes your butter different and special?
There are quite a few things I do differently. I’ve built a modern malaxeur (Madeleine is one of only two producers in the world who use this very traditional machine); I source pasture grass-fed Jersey cow cream; I take a near obsessive approach to culturing and experimentation; and I use old-world wooden paddles for the final blocks. Every decision is made to craft the very best butter that I possibly can.
Who are you and what are you all about?
Not many people know this, but Madeleine is still a small team of one. I went full-time with the business a couple of months ago, but my butter journey began in 2020 while living in France with my wife. It’s not uncommon to fall in love with butter over there, but I really did fall quite deeply. We moved from the south to the north so that I could work on some farms and visit dairies across Brittany. It was a magical buttery time.
Explain like we’re five: how do you make it?
Making butter is simple. If you agitate cream, it eventually splits into a solid and a liquid: butter and buttermilk. Naturally, it can get a lot more complicated.
At Madeleine, I use a very small barrel churn that gently folds the cream over itself until the butter is revealed. After being washed with cold water, the butter is kneaded and massaged on our malaxeur. It’s during this stage that we also add any salts or other ingredients.
After being worked to a silky consistency, the butter is portioned and wrapped by hand, with traditional wooden paddles still used on every block.
Okay, you’ve mentioned this ‘malaxeur’ twice now; what is it?
A malaxeur is a historic machine comprising a flat table and a corrugated rolling pin used for kneading and massaging the butter. Malaxeurs were common in medium- to large-sized dairies through the 19th century, but industrialisation and large-scale production rendered them obsolete. They now only appear as antiques (we actually brought one back from France with us).
Building a malaxeur from scratch was an absolute mission, and using it is very labour-intensive and time-consuming, but I believe this stage is critical to Madeleine’s distinct character. The hands-on practice produces superior flavours and texture, while also informing and educating the buttermaker about the butter.
We see the term “cultured butter” thrown around a lot – but what does it mean?
So before any of the above happens, we ferment the cream with a selection of bacterial cultures – that’s where the word ‘cultured’ comes from.
Traditionally, all butter was cultured. In the olden days, by the time dairy maidens got around to churning their cream, it had already cultured thanks to the lactobacillus bacteria found naturally around them.
Cream itself has quite a one-dimensional flavour profile, so if you make butter from plain cream, you end up with a rather simple butter. If you ferment the cream first, however, you develop hundreds of flavour and aroma compounds, which produces a richer and much more complex final butter. I often describe it as wine being more complex than grape juice, by virtue of fermentation.
What excites you about this project?
I love the artisanal craft aspect of butter-making, but what I get really excited about is the science behind it all. I recently released an experimental butter – the butteriest butter that I’ve ever made – which was an attempt to amplify the two compounds that make butter taste and smell like ‘butter’: diacetyl and acetoin. After a lot of research and many trials, I landed on something I thought was delicious and buttery – but I wanted to validate my sensory experience through science. I reached out to the University of Melbourne which was able to isolate and quantify the presence of diacetyl and acetoin. They determined that this pair was six times more present when compared to the original Madeleine Salted Cultured Butter. A buttery butter indeed.
And right now, you’re doing an invasive seaweed cultured butter? Tell us more.
This is an interesting project I worked on with Stephen Nairn for his seafood retailer Portside. Wakame is a highly invasive species of kelp that grows rapidly and widely throughout Port Phillip Bay. It forms dense underwater forests that displace native habitats and negatively impact biodiversity. Southern Seagreens is a small team helping to fight the issue by diving and removing wakame forests. Our Portside collab features this invasive (but delicious) seaweed, weaving a delicate and elegant umami edge through our rich and full-bodied cultured butter.
What are the perfect conditions to enjoy Madeleine butter?
I love the idea of Madeleine being passed around the table, accompanied by some good bread. In and amongst some special dishes, things cooked and shared with love. Friends talking over each other, laughing, clinking glasses. Ornette Coleman blowing his sax, Françoise Hardy singing about love, Hope Sandoval inciting reflection. Time disappears and all that matters is the moment. A moment you can return to whenever you open a block of Madeleine butter.
Is this here for a good time or a long time?
Hopefully both. Some of my long-time butters include our everyday salted, salt crystals (our signature style), and beach bonfire (smoked seaweed). I have also produced a few butters sticking around for a good time but not a long time: winter truffle, fleur d’oranger, béarnaise, yuzu, cacio e pepe, black garlic, Christmas pudding. I still have a long list of ideas waiting to be explored, so stay tuned.
Where can I buy it?
I keep madeleinebutter.com.au up to date with products as well as where to find it. Otherwise, keep an eye on the @madeleine_butter Instagram where I post major butter-related news.
Order butter online at madeleinebutter.com.au. Follow along for more at @madeleine_butter.