There are few more wholesome community events than the annual National Trust for Jersey Black Butter Festival, which takes place this weekend (8-10 October) at The Elms in St Peter.
Whether you help peel and chop the half a ton of apples needed to make the special Island delicacy, stir or just want to feel the warmth of a fire on your face, it is a wonderful experience.
Black Butter represents an important part of Jersey’s rural heritage. Its production required enormous amounts of labour, so it became a co-operative activity involving family, friends and neighbours.
Music, songs, dancing, cards and storytelling helped keep everyone going through the long night. In Jèrriais, such an evening was known as eune séthée d’nièr beurre – an evening of Black Butter.
Tonight, Friday 9 October, food and live music will help keep spirits high as volunteers continue stirring the cauldron in which the traditional preserve is cooked through the night.
The Trust uses a recipe passed down through long-time supporter Neil Mourant, who grew up with the tradition in the 1950s.
Using grandmother’s recipe
The recipe came from his grandmother’s family, who had made Black Butter for generations, and has remained unchanged.
In recent years, Mac Macready has taken the lead in the Black Butter-making process.
A Trust spokesperson said: “Mac has volunteered with the National Trust for Jersey for more than 25 years and has attended every Black Butter event since the Trust’s tradition began more than 20 years ago.
“For Mac, the event is about much more than making a traditional preserve.”
Mac explained: “This annual event is all about getting the whole community together. People of all ages come into that Bake House and stir the bachin. You can meet so many nice people and get to know them and their families while you stir.”
And stirring is no small task.
Mac lit the fire at The Elms at 5am on Friday (9 October), over which and Eune peîle or cauldron, containing 12 gallons of freshly pressed apple juice, is placed. The juice is boiled until reduced by two-thirds.
Mac leads the team as 1,000 lbs of peeled apples are added, followed by 24 lbs of sugar, three-quarters of a pound of liquorice, and the grated rind and juice of 10 lemons. The mixture is stirred constantly with a rabot, (a long-handled stirrer) until Saturday lunchtime.
Finally, the peîle is removed from the heat – a task requiring two or three strong people – and half a pound each of mixed spices and cinnamon is added. The Black Butter is then poured into pots and taken to a large tent on the front lawn, where volunteers jar, wipe, lid and label every jar.
The Trust spokesperson said: “It is a remarkable community effort and one the National Trust for Jersey is committed to preserving for future generations.
Black Butter preserves far more than apples. It preserves a connection to Jersey’s rural past while bringing people together in the present. In every spoonful, there is more than apple and spice: there is a taste of Jersey’s farming, fishing and family traditions.”
Black butter has a fascinating history.
During Jersey’s cider-making glory days, the Island was also involved in shipbuilding and cod fishing. Many Islanders farmed for part of the year before sailing to Newfoundland. Their catches were salted and transported to the Catholic countries of South America, where Jersey fishermen could exchange their cod for exotic spices that found a ready market back in Britain.
Black Butter brought together several strands of Jersey life: apples from the orchards, labour from the farms and spices acquired through fishing and trading connections.
