Narrator: Since 1927, Maison Bordier in Saint-Malo, France,
has been handcrafting these specialty butters
using local ingredients and centuries-old techniques.
With a small staff, the workshop shapes
up to 20,000 mini butters a day
and sells 350 tons of butter a year
to 30 countries.
Today, Vincent Philippe, a 20-year employee,
leads the daily operations.
Narrator: We visited the workshop at Maison Bordier
to see how this butter is made in such big batches.
Making the butter begins off-site.
To make a metric ton of butter,
Vincent fills this churn with 2,400 liters of cream.
As the churn spins, the fat collides and sticks together,
forming butter grains.
Narrator: After 30 minutes of spinning,
the churn is opened and inspected.
Narrator: Vincent then cleans the butter grains
with the filtered buttermilk
and the churn is left to run for another 15 to 30 minutes,
until all of the grains become a single mound of butter.
Narrator: But before the butter can be kneaded,
it's left to rest for a couple of days to develop flavor.
Narrator: At the maison du beurre, or butter house,
50-kilogram blocks of butter are unwrapped
and sliced into smaller pieces.
The butter is kneaded with a wooden roller
on a rotating table
using a 19th-century technique known as malaxage.
This removes the excess buttermilk
and creates a silky-smooth texture.
It was introduced into the process
by Maison Bordier's founder, Jean-Yves Bordier.
Narrator: At larger workshops,
centrifuges are typically used
to remove the remaining buttermilk,
but here it is done entirely by hand.
Narrator: This process requires so much skill
that Bordier requires people to apprentice for a year.
Narrator: The final step is adding fine salt.
Narrator: During this process, the butter will lose
1 to 2 liters of water.
Narrator: When the butter has reached
the right level of flexibility,
it's shaped into a block, cut, and checked for color.
Narrator: When the butter reaches the ideal consistency,
it's ready to be shaped.
The kneaded butter is placed into this machine,
called the pusher.
The pusher squeezes the butter through a cylinder
and onto a table,
where it's sliced with a guitar-string cutter
nicknamed "Marie Antoinette."
The cut butter is shaped with titanium paddles
by a team that works up to 5 tons of butter a day.
Narrator: Another signature of Bordier
is its use of stamps.
Narrator: Bordier makes around
13 different butter recipes throughout the year.
Narrator: Some of the most popular flavors Bordier makes
are seaweed butter, smoked-salt butter, vanilla butter,
and Espelette pepper butter.
But, true to form, each of these butters
can be slightly adapted depending on the request.
Narrator: Maison Bordier has also been busy
creating new recipes,
like this buckwheat-infused butter.
Narrator: Behind this passion is the previous owner,
Jean-Yves, who retired a few years ago.
And while he may no longer work in the shop,
his philosophy for making a top-tier product
remains a powerful tenet.
Narrator: And at the end of the day,
it's the pleasure that customers get
buying the butter that motivates Bordier to continue.