Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Food: Bretel Butter

My favorite food is butter. (can that be considered a food?  I suppose it's more of a condiment...)  My favorite butter is Beurre Bretel.  It is, quite possibly, one of the most delicious condiments ever created on earth.  Bretel butter comes in a signature red and gold can.  Imported from France, it is rich, creamy, salty, and has a distinct flavor unlike any butter you will taste.  This is my crack.


If you grew up in a traditional Vietnamese household, then you probably grew up eating this butter with your parents and grandparents.  It's been pretty difficult to find until recently.  Yesterday, I drove 45 minutes to San Jose with my best friend to purchase some from a Vietnamese shopping mall.  It was $9 for heaven-in-a-can.  This morning, I spread a little on my english muffin and the first bite nearly brought tears to my eyes.

I can imagine so many delicious possibilities with my Bretel.  It would be sublime on a fresh, french baguette or maybe a dollop melting on a pan-roasted filet mignon.  Sauteed with chopped garlic and then tossed with pasta and freshly-grated parmesan cheese could be my last supper.

Yum!  I'm soooooooooooo excited!

9 comments:

  1. mmmmmmcreammy butter. this with a fresh baguette sounds heavenly. and i really love the act of spreading butter on toast for some reason. it's so easy to spread and it's fun to bite into. it's very european lol

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  2. Could I please get the address and name of the store in San Jose that sells this butter? I've been looking everywhere for this.

    Thanks
    -Henry

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  3. Hi Henry! Here is the information you're looking for:

    Eurasia Delight
    1111 Story Road
    San Jose, CA 95122
    (408) 920-0301

    They're running low on stock, however, and the butter they have available expires this month. Hope this helps though!

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  4. Unethical advertisement: deception
    Bad commercial practice
    Bretel company from French closed their door more than 40 years ago,, A crooked Chinese "KIM SENG" company stole the name and marketed to sale in Vietnamese grocery store..and they certainly don't care that you endanger your health by eating these products..
    Their butter never been inspected by anybody.
    Can you contact the company? What in the can? Poor Vietnamese folks whom never had real French butter think they have real high quality butter.

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    Replies
    1. I understand your perspective as a concerned consumer. However, if you do a little research, you may find that KIM SENG has been illegally producing imitations of Bretel under many different names and has been the subject of a number of lawsuits due to this fact. I can assure you that I have made actual phone calls to the Bretel company, located in France, and it is still being produced by the original Vietnamese-French family company. Consumers just have to be careful about purchasing the original Bretel brand, made in France, as opposed to counterfeit product.

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  5. WOW~! Is nothing safe anymore? Sheesh~! I purchased some of this butter from a local Vietnamese grocer.. how can you tell if it's the REAL McCoy?

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  6. The real Bretel butter was closed longtime ago, but a vietnamese living in Paris had made a salty pasteurized butter as same as the old canned Bretel:

    http://trademark.markify.com/trademarks/ctm/beurre+pasteurise.+sale+3+bretel+pasteurized.+3+salt+add/010194504

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  7. A french company, Briois, still makes salty butter as same as canned Bretel butter under the name SOVACO - there are 2 cans of butter: 2 Kgs and 250 grams (under the name FRANDEL).

    http://www.briois.fr/beurre-en-boite

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