Maker · Dairy
Van de Koe
Van de Koe lets the cream sour for 20 hours before churning, the way farmhouse butter was once made. That gives body, a long finish and a cultured tang you taste again in a beurre blanc or just on sourdough. The milk comes from twelve farmers who manage their land for wading birds.
The story
Who's behind it
Van de Koe is the work of Roel Kramer, who earlier worked at large food companies like Nestlé and at one point felt butter as a category had stalled. He started small from Huizen: churning himself, going around kitchens with bread and butter to taste. That direct approach brought the first steady buyers, including De Goudfazant and the Scheepvaartmuseum.
The milk comes from Weide Weelde, a cooperative of twelve dairy farmers who together with Vogelbescherming Nederland manage their land for biodiversity. Delayed mowing dates, wet grassland and herb-rich pasture bring more flowers, insects and wading birds. That origin can go on your menu.
20 hours of culturing
Van de Koe lets the cream culture for 20 hours before churning, the way farmhouse butter was originally made. That fermentation gives a cultured tang, more body and a longer finish. You taste it where butter is the main ingredient, such as in a beurre blanc or on bread with just salt.
The butter sits at 82 grams fat per 100 grams and is 100 percent cultured butter. The plain is unsalted; the fleur de sel is hand-salted with salt from Guérande. Alongside that is a range of herb butters where the flavoring is worked on first: the sage infuses in oil for a day, the black garlic is separately fermented. Rosemary with sea salt, sage with lemon and black garlic sit alongside smoked and truffle variants.
In your kitchen
Set the fleur de sel next to the bread and your guests taste the butter before the kitchen sends anything out. Keep the 5-kilo chunk for sauces and brown butter, and the 500 gram rolls for finishing on the plate.
The herb butters work as a garnish on their own. A slice of black garlic butter over a steak or sage and lemon through fresh pasta is a dish in two steps.
“I felt this product category had stalled in flavor, appearance and sustainability since the seventies.”
Chef’s tip
Set the fleur de sel butter aside for finishing and keep the cultured plain for brown butter. Because of the longer fermentation, the beurre noisette colors faster and darker, so pull it slightly shorter and take it off the heat as soon as it smells of hazelnut. The cultured base gives a fresh, tangy edge.
How to use it
Ideas for your menu
Beurre blanc
Mount cold from the 5-kilo chunk. The cultured tang gives the sauce sharpness and body.
Butter board to start
Fleur de sel butter at room temperature with warm sourdough. The salt flakes stay whole and crunch against the soft, slightly tart butter. An amuse before the kitchen sends anything out.
Black garlic on red meat
A slice of black garlic butter melting over a rested piece of beef. Sweet and umami.
Sage and lemon through gnocchi
The sage has been infused in oil for a day before it goes into the butter. Fresh and herbal over fresh pasta or poached white fish.
For your menu
“Cultured butter from Van de Koe in Huizen, cultured 20 hours and churned from milk from Weide Weelde farmers who manage their land for wading birds.”
Products from Van de Koe
What we carry from this maker
Boeren boter fleur de sel 500g
Boeren boter kluit 5kg
Boeren boter rol naturel 500g
Boter rol rozemarijn/zeezout
Boter rol salie/citroen 500g
Prices and availability are in the portal. Become a customer or log in to order.
Taste it in your own kitchen
Book a no-obligation tasting with Niels and taste it for yourself.