Clarified butter is butter with the milk solids and water removed, leaving only the butter fat. Typically, it is produced by melting butter and allowing the different components to separate. The water evaporates. Some of the milk solids float to the surface and are skimmed off. The rest of the milk solids sink to the bottom of the pan and are left behind when the butter fat is poured off.
Clarified butter has a higher smoke point than regular butter and is preferred in high heat cooking. While we usually think of it as a French item, clarified butter also has a much longer shelf life than fresh butter, which is one of the reasons it’s been used all over the world for centuries.
In northern India it is known as ghee. It is used in religious ceremonies to light lamps and pyres. Both desert sweets and offerings for the gods are made using ghee. In most cuisines, the milk solids are thrown out, but in India they are kept and eaten as a delicacy with various unleavened breads. In Hindi, the milk solids are called mehran.
In the Middle East it is called "yellow oil" or samna (sometimes spelled samnah). It is used for frying and sautéing. The butter is cooked long enough to not only evaporate off the water, but to caramelize the milk solids, which are filtered out. This creates a nutty flavor. The English call this brown butter. The French call this beurre noisette, loosely translated as "nutty butter."
In England, clarified butter is used in the process of potting, whereby foods such as shrimp and hare are preserved in pots of butter.
In Brazil, it is known as manteiga de garrafa or “bottle butter” and is featured mostly in cuisine from the Northeast.
In Ethiopian cuisine, clarified butter is infused with ginger, garlic, and several spices and is known as niter kibbeh.
In French or Cajun cooking, roux is most often made with clarified butter and flour.
For a demonstration of how to make clarified butter, see this video.
Comments