Buttered up by Bocuse: The Dairy Deeds of a Masterchef

Justin Postlethwaite has flashbacks of some outrageous dairy deeds involving legendary master chef Paul Bocuse…

Often when visiting a French museum or monument or simply strolling around a town or village, there is a moment, an impression or feeling that remains long in the memory, perhaps more lucidly in the long-term than a specific date, historic reference or fact about a building.

One such impression, which I can never banish from memory, was lasered into my mind at a mustard factory in Burgundy. It probably occurred over a decade ago but my mind’s eye still conjures it up with such ease that it could have happened yesterday. Or maybe it never happened at all, it was simply a mustard-induced fever dream.

During the visit, after learning how said moutarde makers went about their business, I was invited to watch a short video about how the kicky condiment’s key role in classical cuisine evolved in years gone by. Grainy old black and white footage then cut to none other than culinary godfather Paul Bocuse during a TV appearance, probably from the 1960s. He was doing a cooking demonstration to camera, talking passionately and enthusiastically about the ingredients he was using, one of which was butter.

Naughty but nice

Sadly, to this day all of my subsequent attempts to recall the dish that Bocuse was preparing have drawn a blank-they have been permanently erased by a much more shocking and powerful image. All I can visualise is the Lyon legend furiously scooping about half a tonne of butter into a massive frying pan, heaving one giant ladleful of beurre after another, trying to keep up as the previous one’s contents rapidly fizzled and bubbled down to a foaming brown liquid. Monsieur Paul, as he was affectionately known, was probably poaching some fish in the butter but who knows, my memory trail goes cold.

What I found most startling was the sheer joyous abandon with which the fat was being added, without any nod to the cost or health implications. “Fat is life,” said Bocuse in a later famous clip (see boxout). These days, however, such dairy profligacy is unheard of for two reasons. Firstly, the cost. While the tail end of 2025 saw a small decrease in the price of butter, in May of last year economic analysis by CNIEL (French Dairy Interbranch Organisation) reported an all-time high of over €7,600 per tonne. From October 2021 to January 2025, the price of butter rose by 34.1%.

Health is king

Secondly, more health-conscious cooking means that lower fat crème fraîche and healthy oils are preferred by many top chefs (who also need to watch their budgets, it should be stressed). The consumer diet has evolved too, with many French people more aware of their cholesterol levels, dairy intolerance and healthy eating in general. “The French are buying less butter. Among the categories of households whose behaviour we monitor, there are consumers who follow a diet and are careful about fat and sugar. Their proportion has been increasing for several years,” Cyrielle Bienvenu, a consultant for Nielsen IQ, told Orange News in January 2025.

Bocuse is often referenced as being a leading light of nouvelle cuisine in the 1960s and 1970s, which has a tendency towards fresh market ingredients, smaller portions elegantly presented, shorter cooking times and lighter sauces. However, he came to resent its elitist and even intellectual hijacking. In 2007 he told Le Figaro: “Nouvelle cuisine was nothing on the plate, everything on the bill!” He was, first and foremost, a master of traditional cooking, with simplicity and loyalty to local traditions paramount. He knew that top-quality, rich butter or cream from Normandy delivered a superior taste and eating pleasure.

As someone who always picks a croissant au beurre over a croissant nature, I will forever be Team Bocuse. Culinary times are different now, obviously, and the consumer is far better informed. But even then, Monsieur Paul knew which side his bread was buttered – preferably both!

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Lead photo credit : Paul Bocuse Cream credit INA