Butter

Avonmore Pure Irish Unsalted Butter

€1.73 for 227g €7.63 per kg

This is made by Irish food giant Glanbia and its salt-free nature may prove attractive to many. Salt is a preservative, and salted butter can last two to three months longer in the refrigerator than unsalted butter, so watch the best before date. This is ideal for baking and cooking as it gives you more control over the salt content than regular butter does. It might work in a cake but disappoints on a piece of toast. While unsalted butter is popular on the continent, to an Irish palate accustomed to manufacturers shovelling the stuff into our produce, it just tastes bland. If we were to be unkind, we would say it reminded us of a big block of lard.

Verdict:For chefs only

Star rating:***

Cuinneog Irish Farmhouse Country Butter

€2.99 for 227g €13.20 per kg

This is probably the least familiar of the butters we tried but it is certainly up there with the best – and it is not just us who think so. It won a Great Taste gold medal at the prestigious UK foodie awards last year. It is produced by a small company in Castlebar and, while it is not cheap, it is the kind of product that is certainly worth considering if you have the cash to spare. It has a very strong and creamy flavour and is made using traditional churning methods. It is quite salty, which may be a minus for many, but it was a plus for us. While this product would probably get lost in a mountain of mashed potatoes, it is absolutely delicious on toast.

Verdict: Gorgeously creamy

Star rating: ****

Connacht Gold Creamery Butter

€2.99 for 454g €6.59 per kg

Another Connacht butter, this one comes from Co Sligo and is perfectly pleasant. It is not excessively salty and has a light creaminess and is not too greasy. It was exactly half the price of the Cuinneog we tried and was sitting alongside it in our local Tesco. Incidentally, this company also makes Superquinn’s butter, so if you have such a shop near you, you may well be able to pick it up for even less than we paid for the branded version.

Verdict:Good value

Star rating:****

Tesco Organic Salted butter

€2.10 for 250g €8.40 per kg

This, Tesco tells us, is “churned using organic sweet cream”, which makes it sound kind of lovely. Then we realised that all the other butters are made the same way, which slightly diminished its magic. It is produced in the UK using milk from there. Now, while UK cows are perfectly pleasant and probably produce cream which is absolutely fine, we think it is better off to support Irish cows (and their owners) so the provenance was a large black mark. The flavours were grand with a decent saltiness and a slight sweetness that was appealing. It was organic – which may or may not influence your purchasing decisions. The fact that it is the second most expensive option might have a bigger impact.

Verdict: Organic but is it worth it?

Star rating:***

Kerrygold

€2.95 for 454g €6.50 per kg

Kerrygold is one of the most famous of Irish brands and one of very few which can be found in good supermarkets as far apart as Boston and Brisbane. No company gets this big by producing a rubbish product (with the exception of the odd fast-food outlet, perhaps) so this was, as expected, of a very high quality. It has a nice familiarity and a pleasing balance of flavours. It is also to be found in the largest supermarkets and the smallest corner shops. Given the nature of our column, we were also interested in the price and were mildly pleased that, despite its stellar reputation, it is amongst the cheapest quality butters to be found on Irish shelves.

Verdict:Great value, great quality

Star rating: *****