For the true butter connoissieur nothing less than the best, the great cultured butters from France with the AOC label will do -- the crown going to 84 per cent butter fat Echire.

We can't usually get Echire - or any foreign butters - here because of the quota system. But now online cheesemonger Andy  Shay  has broken the great butter barrier and is offering Echire (unsalted)  in his mother's day cheese collection ($80).  http://www.shaycheese.ca, or mail him at ashay@shay.ca

It's legal too - unlike some of the foreign butters that do pop up here and there. Andy's getting it from a Quebec importer.

Canadian butter is only just butter - 80% butter fat (the minimum for something called butter)  which means it has 19% water in it and when melted puddles water. By comparison, Echire is 84% butterfat with 15% water. The percentage sounds small, but in taste terms it's big.

Echire, which is made from pasteurized milk, is also cultured - a starter is added to the milk to turn it into something like creme fraiche, giving the eventual butter a very subtle sour taste. The lactic acid produced is also what makes pastry great.