Yesterday afternoon, after the South Bay New Orleans Jazz Club monthly event, we walked over to Chez Melange -- their new tapas bar has been getting very good reviews and we wanted to try it. Sadly the chef was not receiving, so we shrugged and took a booth in Bouzy, the gastro-pub.
It was too early for a real dinner, but a snack seemed in order. And then I saw "Warmed Epi baguette with plugra and smoked salt" $1.90. "Plugra" I breathed. I'd read about it in the foodie magazines and here it was!
Plugras is French shorthand for "plus gras" or "more fat." It's primarily used in baking such as croissants and other delicate pastries. It is 82% butterfat (normal is 80%) and has less salt and less moisture.
I ordered the housemade chicken pate with cornichons and a grainy mustard ($8.90)
The baguette and plugra arrived quickly and the baguette was deliciously warm and crusty. Carefully I cut a bit of the very pale yellow plugra from the slab on the plate and spread it on. It had a very sweet taste -- for butter -- and I think that Peruvian pink sea salt (which has a sharp little sting at the end of the taste) would have been better than the smoked sea salt. I mean, I get it about sweet and smoke, but it isn't all that "like awesome, dude!"
Richie, Bob and Pat all liked it, but I loved it. I cheerfully used it all up. Today my stomach is fine, but I feel...guilty. 82% butterfat is not that big a difference from 80%, but...you're "butter" off without it!
If you can't find plugra, Kerrigold, the Irish butter, is also very good.
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