More About Grand Fermage
Grand Fermage is a French butter brand from the Vendée, in western France, known for its moulded butters and its butter with sea salt crystals from the island of Noirmoutier. Epicerie Corner stocks six Grand Fermage butters: Charentes-Poitou PDO unsalted butter, moulded Vendée butter (unsalted and semi-salted), Noirmoutier sea salt butter in 250g and 500g, and organic semi-salted butter, delivered chilled across the UK.
About Grand Fermage
Grand Fermage butters are made at Bellevigny, in the Vendée, a dairy area on the Atlantic side of western France, close to the marshes and islands of the coast. The brand is known in French supermarkets for its traditional-looking moulded butters (beurre moulé), shaped in a mould like the farm butters of the past, and for using salt from Noirmoutier, a nearby island famous for its salt marshes.
Butter in French Cooking
Butter is central to French cuisine, from the morning tartine of bread and butter to pastry, sauces and cakes. The French distinguish clearly between beurre doux (unsalted butter, the usual choice for baking and cooking in most of France), beurre demi-sel (semi-salted, between 0.5% and 3% salt, traditional in Brittany and the west), and beurre salé (salted, over 3%). Western France, from Brittany to the Vendée and the Charentes, is the heartland of semi-salted butter.
The Salt of Noirmoutier
Noirmoutier is an island off the Vendée coast, linked to the mainland by a bridge and by the Passage du Gois, a causeway that disappears under the sea at high tide. Its salt marshes have been worked for centuries: seawater flows into shallow clay basins, evaporates in the sun and wind, and salt makers, called sauniers or paludiers, rake the crystals by hand in summer. The delicate white crystals that form on the surface are known as fleur de sel. Adding these crystals to butter gives the characteristic crunch of Noirmoutier butter.
What's in the Collection
Charentes-Poitou PDO Butter
The Grand Fermage Charentes-Poitou PDO Unsalted Butter 250g carries a Protected Designation of Origin: it is made exclusively from cream collected in the Charentes-Poitou PDO area, and the cream is slowly matured for around 12 hours before churning, according to the brand, giving a fine, slightly nutty flavour prized by pastry chefs.
Noirmoutier Sea Salt Butter
The Grand Fermage Noirmoutier Semi-Salted Butter 250g (also 500g) is enriched with sea salt crystals hand-harvested by the salt makers of the island of Noirmoutier. The crystals give a little crunch and a burst of saltiness on bread.
Moulded Vendée Butter
The Grand Fermage Moulded Vendée Butter 500g, unsalted, and the semi-salted version (2% salt) are made in the Vendée from French cream, in a generous 500g block for families and baking.
Organic Butter
Grand Fermage Organic Semi-Salted Butter 250g is made from 100% organic French milk, with a natural yellow colour and a soft texture.
How to Choose
- Pastry and baking: Charentes-Poitou PDO unsalted butter or the unsalted moulded butter.
- Bread and butter: Noirmoutier sea salt butter.
- Families: the 500g moulded butters.
- Organic: organic semi-salted butter.
- Everyday cooking: moulded Vendée butter, salted or unsalted.
Cooking Ideas
Spread Noirmoutier butter on fresh baguette, radishes or warm crêpes. Use PDO butter for croissants, shortbread, puff pastry or a beurre blanc sauce. Make a classic beurre noisette by heating unsalted butter until golden and nutty, then pour over fish or vegetables. Semi-salted butter is the base of salted butter caramel: melt sugar to an amber caramel, stir in cubes of semi-salted butter and a little cream.
Storage
Keep butter in the fridge, well wrapped or in a butter dish, away from strong smells, and eat by the date on the pack. Take it out 15 to 20 minutes before spreading. Butter can be frozen in its wrapping. All these butters contain milk. For more, see Butter and Elle & Vire.
Grand Fermage FAQs
Where is Grand Fermage butter made?
At Bellevigny, in the Vendée, in western France.
What is special about Noirmoutier salt?
It is sea salt hand-harvested in the salt marshes of the island of Noirmoutier, off the Vendée coast.
What does Charentes-Poitou PDO mean?
The butter is made from cream collected within the Charentes-Poitou designated area, following the PDO rules.
Can I bake with semi-salted butter?
Yes. Many Breton and Vendée recipes, such as shortbread and caramel, use semi-salted butter. For other recipes, use unsalted butter or reduce the added salt.