Jack Gaffney long had an interest in dairy before moving to France for a whirlwind two-ish years. The country is revered for its cattle including Froment du Leon, Bretonne Pie Noir, Normande, and Montbeliarde, which produce milk used to make some of the all-time great cheeses; Emmental and Gruyère are just a couple.
But Gaffney’s interest always lay in butter, and where better to learn the craft than one of the birthplaces of artisan-made dairy products. Gaffney speaks to Hospitality about working on dairy farms in France, returning home to launch Madeleine cultured butter, and the differences that come with taking a traditional, hands-on approach.
In a world that encourages cutting corners, Jack Gaffney chose to do the opposite. He moved to Montpellier in France during the pandemic for 18 months and tied the knot with his wife. He paints a picture of the period — daily cheese spreads at 5pm and taking cheese courses, “but there was something about butter in general that captivated me,” he says. “I went over there with the idea that cheese is a complex product, not fully understanding butter could be in the same realm of complexity.”
The discovery prompted a location shift to Brittany, where the couple lived in a van and worked on a farm which had a herd of just 12 cattle. “It’s so localised in France,” says Gaffney. “We would call it a micro dairy here, but it’s a normal way of existence over there.” Gaffney visited different dairies and took part in a “crash course”, which involved absorbing as much intel as possible from people who had spent their entire lives working on farms. The experience also entailed a six-month stint on a goat farm in Provence. “We made different goat milk products and it was great fun — goats are just amazing.”
But all good things must come to an end, and the purchase of a home in Waburton, Victoria, resulted in the couple moving back home at the start of 2022. “I already had the idea for Madeleine before going to Brittany,” says Gaffney. “I started to look around the Yarra Valley for a space and eventually found one in Lilydale.” It’s here where Gaffney started Madeleine, a cultured butter business named after the daily rituals we often take for granted. “A madeleine is just a sponge cake, it’s not the most life-changing thing you’re going to encounter. But in the moment, it’s so perfect to have a little innocuous item with a coffee in the morning. It completes the moment and makes it special. I hoped Madeleine butter would do that, even if it’s just spreading it on some bread as someone runs out the door.”
Madeleine is a one-man show, with Gaffney splitting his time between his full-time job as a copywriter and butter-making. He produces between 30–45kg of butter per week, and begins the process with Jersey milk, which he selected for its high yield. “There’s a rough calculation you can do for butter-making,” says Gaffney. “For every 10 litres of milk, you get one litre of cream and 50 per cent of that is buttermilk. Some breeds will give you less than 40 per cent cream, but I’ve been able to get above 42 per cent.”
Gaffney uses dairy from Gippsland Jersey, which works with farms that allow cows to largely graze on green grass throughout the year. “It’s an important factor when it comes to quality. Cost is an issue, but I’m happy to wear it for the quality of the product.” Once the cream is received, Gaffney ferments it over a two-day period. “It’s the cultured part of cultured butter,” he says. “We add different cultures at different ratios [depending on the type of butter being made]. The bacteria finds the lactose in the cream and uses it to create energy to reproduce. The byproduct of that process is lactic acid, so the lactose gets used up which means the pH starts to drop.” Diacetyl is an organic compound that develops during the process and is also found in Chardonnay. “It’s already present in the cream, but you develop more of that compound through the culturing process and get a richer, deeper flavour which comes with the lowering of the pH.”
Gaffney uses a barrel churn to agitate the cream until it splits into solid and liquid — butter and buttermilk. The butter is then washed with water to remove any remaining buttermilk before it goes into a purpose-built malaxer based on an original Gaffney bought second-hand in Burgundy. “Malaxing is unique to how I make butter, but it’s effectively the kneading and massaging of the butter to remove the last of the buttermilk,” says Gaffney. “It helps develop the deeper aromas and flavours.” The butter is then portioned and shaped using paddles and pats, “so you get those distinct lines”, says Gaffney, “each block is slightly different”. It’s then packaged and refrigerated.
Madeleine’s range continues to grow — Gaffney plans to roll out 12 limited releases this year on top of the core collection of salted and unsalted, signature cultured, smoked salt, and seaweed, which was inspired by his time in Brittany. “It’s quite common there,” he says. “We’d get a stick of seaweed butter, a crusty baguette, and a bottle of cider and shuck oysters on the beach. It was about wanting to recreate those moments back here. I came across a smoked dulse seaweed and thought it would be interesting with red gum smoked salt.” The Outback cultured butter required a little more time on the development front. “I ordered a bunch of different herbs and spices and leaned into an earthier version,” says Gaffney, who chose to combine bush tomato with wattle seed, desert oak, pepperberry, saltbush, and Murray River pink salt. “When I put that combination together, it tasted like the image of the Outback I have in my mind. It was familiar but still unique.”
But for everyday moments, the salted cultured butter is a staple for a reason. “It’s designed to be a butter for the home,” says Gaffney. “You can cook with it, use it on sandwiches, or just enjoy it by itself, so I wanted it to be the best in that respect.” It has a level of richness which is enhanced by Celtic grey marine mineral salt sourced from the west coast of France. “It has low sodium content, high minerals, and a great flavour that doesn’t just taste like salt.”
It’s early days for Madeleine and Gaffney, who hopes to expand the business in the future. “It’s not my full-time job, so I don’t have enough time at this stage and my equipment is a limiting factor as well,” he says. “I need to buy bigger and invest, but it’s not an easy thing.” Working and partnering with restaurants is also on the cards as well as the continuation of weekly Farmers Market appearances in Victoria. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone else producing butter to this calibre in Australia, which is something to be celebrated — ideally in the form of a butter-slathered baguette.
