Its sweet, rich flavor and golden color conjures Ireland’s lush green countryside dotted with rock walls and serene cows. Produced with milk from small dairy farmers who graze their cows on grass year round, Kerrygold is pure, creamy golden Irish heaven. You’ll definitely want to have a shiny brick of this Irish classic on hand for your St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

The fact that the Irish port city of Cork has a whole museum dedicated to butter (http://corkbutter.museum/ ) says a lot about butter’s place in Irish history. Beginning in the 1700’s the Cork Butter Exchange developed a system for inspection, grading and export of Irish butter to Europe and the West Indies, and Ireland soon became the world’s largest butter exporter. In 1961 the Irish Dairy Board and the Kerrygold brand were established to create a network of small dairy farms, rather than one giant factory, to produce milk for traditional Irish butters and cheeses. Because Ireland’s climate allows the farmers to graze cattle year round, Kerrygold butter is naturally bright yellow from pigments in the grass—the real gold at the end of the Irish rainbow.

Kerrygold is now available all over America, from Trader Joe’s to Whole Foods. The salted version, wrapped in gold foil, is spectacular on soft white rolls and toast, as well as soda bread, and we always lay in a supply of it when our Irish relatives come to visit. The silver-wrapped cultured unsalted butter is great for baking, and its slightly higher butterfat content makes it a great sauce finisher, as well.

If you can’t find Kerrygold at your local markets, you can order it:
http://www.foodireland.com/
http://www.igourmet.com/
http://www.amazon.com/