Until recently, this top-end butter made from the milk of Jersey cows was only available to a few select restaurants but now they can make enough of the Artisan butter to supply further afield.
It is daffodil yellow, has a lovely lactic flavour and is lightly sprinkled with sea salt crystals. At $7.50 for 125g Artisan butter is not cheap, but compares favourably with craft European butters.
Lewis Road Creamery Artisan butter is available locally at Gilberts Fine Foods in Dunedin and Mediterranean Market in Queenstown, while the Lewis Road Creamery Premium butters, unsalted and lightly salted, are now widely available in supermarkets.
Buying directly from the producer is the best way to be certain of the provenance of your food, but unless you shop at a farmers market where you can talk to the person who grew or made the food, the only other way is to buy online directly from the producer.
An increasing number of New Zealand farmers are now marketing their own products direct to consumers.
Recently I was sent some Green Meadows beef from a farm in coastal Taranaki where the Carey family farm Angus beef. It's well vacuum-packed and the meat (apart from the well-marbled porterhouse) was lean and well trimmed.
For more information or to order, visit www.greenmeadowsbeef.co.nz
The business has grown remarkably since starting with the Otago Farmers Market stall a few years ago and now his family-sized pies are available around the country in supermarkets and delis.
Look out for wild venison, rosemary and red wine, beef, mushroom and red wine, lamb, thyme and rosemary, pork, sage and caramelised red onion, or join the pie club to find out when his ostrich or rabbit and hare pies are available as they are quickly snapped up.
