South Africans have spoken on their best butter treats. In honour of World Milk Day and to coincide with the challenge to find South Africa’s first #UltimateButterMaster, a survey was run to find out just how much South Africans enjoy their butter and in what way.
Topping the rich list and voted SA’s number one butter recipe using Irish Kerrygold Butter are light and airy vanilla-whipped buttery scones. Other creamy favourites include bread and butter pudding with a twist (think croissants and lemon curd!), lekker rump steak basted with mustard butter, side dishes of cheesy mashed potato and garlic butter bread, while the simple but delicious brown butter, a golden elixir for pasta, prawns, and porridge, simply oozed appeal.
The fun and interactive #UBM challenge kicked off on 1st June when South Africa’s beloved chefs, foodies, and personalities invited all South Africans to create their proudly South African dish using Kerrygold Butter. The survey was run on Woolworths TASTE Friday food fights on Instagram, where the community showed that the only thing better than butter is more butter!
Fun food fights included voting on baked potatoes with butter vs buttery mash (mash sneaked ahead at 54% to 46%), Hollandaise sauce vs lemon butter sauce (no contest: lemon butter oozed taste appeal with an overwhelming 62% of the vote), and butter on mealies vs butter on asparagus (87% of the foodie community are buttery mealie fans).
Onezwa Mbola aka @thegalwhoatedurban earned the bragging rights of SA’s first #UltimateButterMaster with her traditional butter chicken with garlic butter flatbreads. She won R10 000 cash, and her recipe will be featured on taste.co.za.
Onezwa, a 26-year-old marine navigator, was born and raised in a small village on the Wild Coast. “Food has always been a big part of my life growing up,” she says. “We cooked as a family and mealtime was often when everyone came together but I wasn’t always a good cook. In 2019 I decided to improve my cooking skills and that is how my Instagram food page was born. I share my successes and failures in the kitchen with the intention of inspiring home cooks to explore more in their kitchens.”
“Onezwa’s traditional butter chicken and garlic butter flatbreads were spot on in terms of the #UltimateButterMaster brief,” said Sharmala Adamson of Ornua Africa, the co-operative which sells Kerrygold Butter. “It was beautifully shot and styled, had a strong South African influence, and was a definite favourite on Instagram with over 2100+ likes. Onezwa really knows her food and flavours and did not compromise on quality!”
Kerrygold Butter is one of Ireland’s most famous exports and it’s for good reason that the Irish are world renowned for their dairy products. Dairy farming is practically part of their DNA. A whopping 17 000 family-run, intergenerational dairy farms form the beating heart of the Irish dairy industry and, as has been the practise for generations past, Irish cows are pasture raised.
We are delighted to participate again this year in the World Milk Day celebrations and to communicate on the unique characteristics of Irish grass fed dairy”, says Nicolas Ranninger, Bord Bia’s Regional Director for Africa. “With its mild climate and plentiful rainfall, Ireland is naturally suited to sustainable, grass-fed dairy farming.”
Due to Ireland’s geographical location on the west of Europe, it enjoys the longest grass growing season in the northern hemisphere, meaning the pasture-raised Irish cows get to spend an average of 240 days of the year on the country’s grasslands and enjoy a diet that consists of 95% grass. This translates to a rich and creamy texture and cultured flavour profile.
A heritage of family farming, passed from generation to generation, combined with lush green fields, clean air, and plentiful rain create the perfect environment for dairy farming, which converts grass into nutrient-rich, premium quality products.
Kerrygold Butter is also preservative and additive-free, while the iconic yellow colour comes from the beta carotene naturally found in fresh grass.
Nicolas Ranninger added: “Africa is a key market for Irish food and beverage exports and in particular for Irish dairy companies who enjoy a solid reputation for exporting high-quality dairy produce to African countries”.
Now that your taste buds have been teased, are you ready to get better with butter? To see Onezwa’s winning entry, visit Kerrygold South Africa’s Instagram page, where you will also find the weekly winners’ recipes of bone marrow butter steak, moist chocolate cake with chocolate ganache as well as delicious brownies made by a 14-year-old. Don’t forget to tag @kerrygoldsouthafrica and use #UltimateButterMaster on your foodie journey.
For more information about Kerrygold South Africa follow them on Instagram @kerrygoldsouthafrica and Facebook @KerrygoldSA
