Can you help conserve an old tradition?

Monday 29 September 2014

Jersey’s National Trust are hoping to spread the word and get plenty of helpers to cook up one of the Island’s ancient recipes next month.

They need peelers, stirrers and fillers to help make Black Butter – a traditional farm-house delicacy which dates back to when cider production was big business in the Island.

The Trust will start apple peeling at The Elms in St Mary during the afternoon of Thursday 23 October and will be lighting the fire early the next day to get started on stirring the ingredients to make up the famous spread.  

Black Butter takes hours and hours to make and has always been a big community effort – when they weren’t busy stirring Islanders would sing, dance, tell stories and chat. This year The Ukoholix – a 15 piece Ukelele band from Swansea will be providing the entertainment on Friday evening and the Trust will be cooking up a big breakfast for all those that end up stirring into the small hours.

When the cider has been boiled up and reduced down, in go the apples, sugar, lemon, liquorice and spices.

Once it’s ready and the jars have been filled you can get your hands on some hot fresh Black Butter or Beurre Nièr as it's called in Jèrriais which will go on sale on the Saturday at the Genuine Jersey Market from 10 am until 4 pm.

At the height of cider production in the Island back in 1810 as much as 4.5 million litres were exported, black butter made use of all the leftover apples and surplus cider.