The Flavor Experience is an annual gathering of top chain menu developers. This year, the event drew more than 200 restaurant executives who determine what will be on the menu of some household names in the world of restaurant chains.
As flavor experts shared insights on what is trending for the coming year, an old favorite was at the top of the list… brown butter.
This old chef’s trick of heating regular butter just long enough to toast the milk solids a tiny bit past the melting point creates a magical toasty flavor.
Adding brown butter in the description of a menu item adds nostalgia for older customers and sounds like something new for Gen Zs and Millennials. Fall and winter are naturals for the rich, nutty flavor that brown butter brings to sauces, desserts, glazes and even as a flavoring for hot beverages. Another trick is to skip some of the hassle of melting batches of butter with Butterball® Farms Quik-Creations® Butter Sauce Base.
Here are a few interesting examples of how top restaurants are leveraging brown butter on their menu in Europe and the U.S.
At Berlin’s Berliner Speisemeisterei, brown butter’s nutty flavor adds cravability to its Golden Snitch dessert made with mousse, tonka caramel and “snow”.
Go to Atlanta’s King + Duke—you will find Gulf Shrimp with brown butter-hot sauce and hearth toast. Thus, brown butter complements both sweet and savory dishes.
In Plymouth, MA, Chefs Jim and Heather Casey use brown butter at their French restaurant for their Wild Scottish salmon with vichyssoise, tomato salad and brown butter tomato crumbs at their Mallebar Brasserie.
Brown butter is an old trick with that’s now on trend. You can make it even easier with Butterball Farms’ Quik-Creations® Butter Sauce Bases. Available in Premium and All Natural, chefs can quickly and easily transform ordinary ingredients into extraordinary culinary delights reducing time and labor. Both products are available at your local distributor. Check out more recipe ideas with these bases and other short cuts to flavor awaiting you from Butterball® Farms.