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Cows produce the best,
sweetest butter, but it has also been made from the
milk of many other animals, including goats, sheep,
camels, llamas, reindeer, water buffalo, yaks and
even horses. |
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The name ‘butter’ is
thought to come from the Sanskrit word ‘bhutari’,
which means “the enemy of evil spirits”. |
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As well as being used
for food, butter has been used as a cosmetic, a currency,
an ointment and a fuel for lamps. |
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Cartoon hero Homer Simpson
found an alternative - but tasty - use for butter,
as a pencil holder:
Marge: Is that my
butter?
Homer: Can't talk -- taking
memo.
[Licks tip of pencil as if about
to write.]
Homer: Mmmmm...
delicious.
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During the Middle Ages,
butter was given an extra golden colour by being
mixed with marigold flowers. The marsh marigold is
better known as the ‘Buttercup’. |
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Before the corpse of a
member of the Parsee religion is removed from its
home, butter is traditionally smeared across its
forehead and the dogs of the house are admitted.
If the dogs lick the butter, it is supposed to be
a sign that the deceased will go to heaven. |
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The centrepiece of the
annual Iowa State Fair is a 550lb cow sculpted from
butter by Duffy Lyon. The task takes 16 hours to
complete. Among her other butter-built highlights
at recent shows include sculptures of Charlie Brown
and Snoopy, Elvis Presley, John Wayne and a 400lb
version of Country and Western star, Garth Brooks. |
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The melting point of butter
is between 90 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit (32 and 35
Celsius) |
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Butter was one of the
two gifts Little Red Riding Hood had been taking
to her grandmother when she met The Wolf. |
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In Quebec, Canada, an
old law states that margarine must be a different
colour from butter. When the law was introduced,
the government tried to impose a red margarine before
settling on a pale, off-white colour. |
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In 1972, the American
band Hot Butter had a worldwide top 10 hit with the
synthesizer track ‘Popcorn’. |
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