and we're about to visit Bordier,

a traditional maison du beurre, or butter house.

When you picture butter, you probably think of

a yellow block in a plastic bag.

Well, not here.

Here, butter is done artisanally.

Everything is churned, kneaded, and shaped by hand.

And I can't wait to see that.

Let's go.

In February, we met with Jean-Yves Bordier,

son and grandson of butter and cheese makers,

who brought back to France the 19th-century technique

of malaxage, using this big wooden wheel

to knead the butter.

To Jean-Yves, the malaxage

is a more romantic way to make butter.

Claudia: The malaxage is really

what makes Bordier butter unique.

These are 50-kilo blocks of butter extracted from milk

and are pretty standard in the butter-making industry,

even for the most artisanal.

But while everyone else would use

huge centrifuges to filter out

the last remaining drops of buttermilk,

butter at the Bordier workshop is flattened

by a wooden wheel and worked by hand by Eric.

Claudia: Let's do it.

Little by little, the malaxage

is going to give butter a new life.

Dating back to the late 19th century,

this tool was first used to rework different butters.

At Bordier, it also helps give butter

the desired texture.

Claudia: There's, like, no way I'm gonna do this.

Claudia: And when you see him doing that, it's...

it almost has, like, an harmony.

It's not easy.

Monsieur Bordier said this is 50 kilos of butter.

So, try and lift a bit of it,

it's gonna be, like, what?

10 kilos just in one go?

Claudia: Eric then salts the butter using fine salt.

This step is crucial to make sure the butter

finally rejects all the leftover water it has in it.

Claudia: Oh, wow.

Actually, I can see that

it's getting wetter and wetter.

It's picking up more water.

Claudia: According to Jean-Yves,

they work with old techniques,

but they are not trying to recreate an old recipe.

Claudia: Big one. Ah, no.

Jean-Yves: Ah, no. Like this? OK.

Voilà.

Claudia: It's salty.

Jean-Yves: It's very salty.

Claudia: It's softer than the butter I'm used to.

It's much sweeter, this one.

Bordier also makes flavored butters,

including chili butter, buckwheat butter,

vanilla butter, and more.

Claudia: Yeah.

It's very fresh. It's very fresh and...

yeah, it tastes like seaweed,

but it's not fishy at all.

It's nice and sweet.

It really reminds you of that, like, seaside wind

when you're just sitting there at the beach

and you can smell it.

Claudia: Yeah, I've just, like,

been catapulted into the picture now.

Claudia: It's marvelous.

It's really incredible.

And so this one is your signature from Brittany,

because you're from this region?

Jean-Yves: It's the roots of my identity.

Claudia: Ah, no.

I would like to taste that, then. [laughing]

Claudia: After it's ready,

each stack of freshly churned butter

is then placed into this butter cutter,

another machine signature to Bordier.

Claudia: There's a lot of water.

Claudia: So this means that there's still water

that's coming out of the butter?

Claudia: The only thing that is left is shaping.

And just like the rest, it is all done by hand.

Each shape and size is custom.

Some chefs may order these bite-sized shapes;

others may just buy the whole stack

and cut it themselves.

Claudia: There's something in this butter.