Butter is an excellent
food, it provides a high energy content in a delicious form.
In what was eastern Tibet fresh milk is never used, Tibetans believe milk is unhealthy, so all that is produced is churned into butter. The Mongols have an insatiable appetite for butter; it is molded into altar offerings, burned in lamps, eaten and worn. Sometimes it is pressed into bricks and used as a medium of exchange, the natural currency of the country. Housewives keep receptacles of it hanging in the kitchen for years; its aging rancidity is highly prized. Both men and women smear themselves with butter during the winter months. Their tea, a kind of strained soup, is boiled and buttered.
Butter is one of the oldest foods, believed to be in use before 2000 BC. It is mentioned throughout the Bible. It was used as an ointment for the skin, and sold in medicine shops; fresh butter was used as a salve for burns and sore eyes.
In cooking Compounded (creamed) butters are used as a finishing touch to foods. Compounded butters can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator