Dulse Seaweed Cultured Butter

Inspired by French butter maker Jean-Yves Bordier, Ploughgate has been dreaming up this butter for years. The recipe marries the richness of cultured butter with the pleasant savory taste of the sea. The Dulse and Nori seaweed used is sourced from a fellow New Englander, Vitamin Sea, hand-harvested in Maine.

Crafted by hand in small batches. Ploughgate Creamery cultured butter is made in the old European tradition with fresh local cream. The flavor is sweet, slightly tangy, and unbelievably creamy.

Producer notes:
Ploughgate Creamery has been crafting small-batch, cultured butter of the finest quality in Vermont since 2014. Owner-operator Marisa got her first taste of dairy life at age 15. As a farmhand at Woodcock Farm in Weston, Vermont – a stone’s throw from her hometown of Dorset - she was introduced to artisan cheesemaking. In it she discovered a passion that would set her on a decade-long course working with some of the most renowned cheesemakers in the country including Yerba Santa & Bodega Goat Cheese, Shelburne Farms, and Bonneview Dairy. At age 23, Marisa put those years of study to work. She founded Ploughgate Creamery in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom and began making her own cheese, including a buttery washed-rind cow’s milk named Willoughby.

For three years Ploughgate’s cheeses earned her accolades and fans until a fire destroyed the cheesemaking facility in 2011, ceasing Ploughgate Creamery’s production. Marisa was 26 years old. Following the loss, she took a break from the dairy industry and didn’t have plans to return. While working as a waitress in Waterbury, Vermont, a friend notified her that the Vermont Land Trust had purchased a historic property in Fayston. They would resell it for its agricultural value to the entrepreneur with the best plan. Marisa visited the property and was immediately inspired to apply. Resurrecting her cheese operation would have been the obvious choice, but she was ready for a new challenge.

While artisan cheese production in New England was thriving, butter was being neglected. Marisa drafted a 30-page business plan and entered a pool of thirteen candidates vying to take ownership of Bragg Farm. Like cream from milk, Marisa rose to the top and was awarded that opportunity in December 2013. After renovations to the 100-year old property were complete, Ploughgate Creamery commenced butter making in 2014.