…. your own stakovoutyro, the famous sun-kissed butter from Chania (Crete).
It is not difficult if you have access to fresh milk from a goat. A mixture of fresh goat and sheep milk is also fine.
Then you have to skim the fat cream layer that forms on top of the milk and refrigerate it.
Once a sufficient quantity is collected leave it under the sun for 4-5 days. You will see butter starting to form, but you can get a lot more, if….
Woman making staka for a banquet
…if you place the butterfat over low fire till melted, stirring constantly with a whisk.
Then gradually add barley or wheat flour while stirring (it is 1 1/2 -2 tbs flour per 1 k. butterfat). The proteins in the butterfat coagulate during warming and the flour assist them to form the staka, a type of roux that is not used as thickening agent though.
The fat part separates to form stakovoutyro, staka butter. Add a pinch of salt before removing from fire. Transfer the butter to a clean jar and keep refrigerated. A touch of it adds flavor and richness in rice, pasta dishes and cookies. Rice- pilaf, one of the glories of Chania’s cookery, is stirred with hot stakovoutyro before serving.
Serve the staka while still warm, after you sprinkle it with lemon juice. Fresh sourdough bread goes perfect with it. If you will keep it in the fridge you can use it in cooking.
Another typically Cretan use of staka is in fried eggs. A walnut- sized piece of it make them a delicate pleasure.
Clea, making stakovoutyro is neither complicated nor takes special equipment or knowledge.
I never tried to make my own butter, but this does not sound too complicated. Will give it a try.
Tobias, I think you need to find a goat, not a cow. 🙂
Nihal, there are several ways to make butter but this one increases its aromatic quality.
Joumana, stakovoutyro is available only in W.Crete.
Stamatia, as you know Chaniotes are goat zealots. They love goat milk so much that they can’t imagine a happy life without it.
Great, now I just need to find a cow, here in Pangrati 😉
Hi Marina, oh I love homemade butter! It’s so delicious just spread on bread. My late grandmother in Turkey used to also make it and recently I asked my mom on how to make it. I don’t think we let it sit under the sun for 4-5 days. But that sounded very interesting. She explained it but I still have not made it.
They make butter in the villages in Lebanon too but I really can’t tell if it is the same technique; I would love to taste it! do you have togo to Crete or is this same artisanal butter available in Athens?
The doctor doesn’t let her have it anymore so she enjoyed making it for me, but it was bittersweet for her because she can’t have any. It was made from the milk of her own goats, so it was even more special.
…she used to keep a bottle of goat’s milk in the fridge for me mixed with cocoa and honey, and would chide me if I didn’t drink enough…this wasn’t the time I visited when I was 12 though…it was when I was 25! 😉
Stamatia,a taste worth remembering, eh?
It is very aromatic butter, Karen. 1 tsp of stakovoutyro adds flavor to 5 -6 cups of cooked rice.
I remember my aunt once made staka and eggs for me, it was delicious!
Ah, this is a different sort of butter! Very interesting, Mariana!