I was at my friend Conor’s house when I first discovered margarine. I had opened the fridge looking for a little butter to spread on my toast and to my displeasure found none. When I asked Conor, “where the hell is the butter,” he lacked my urgency and told me it was, “in the white tub on the shelf”. After looking around for a while longer he finally came over and pulled out the container labeled “Margarine”.
There was nothing else so it was going to have to do. I opened up the tub, scooped out some of the margarine and spread it about my toast. I took a bite and then came my initial reaction, “I can’t believe you call this butter”.
Yes it spread well, and it was salty, but this was not butter, and nor could it replace it. Butter is creamy and has a sweet yet salty taste that warms your mouth and stays with you. Margarine is like a butter tease, salty yes, but fleeting. Once you it touches your tongue it turns to liquid and vanishes, without that amazing melts in your mouth feeling. Healthier by volume? It may help reduce cholesterol, but the process of hydrogenation results in high saturated fat content. But what difference does it make? In order to get half of the experience of true butter the margarine has to be piled high otherwise its buttery flavor lasts only seconds.
I was not a fan of margarine my first time as I may have made clear, but I did not give up on it. Although margarine is an unworthy substitute as a topping for toast, I have found it valuable for cooking. With a healthier content, the same taste can be acquired using margarine to pan fry such things as grilled cheese. Because the buttery taste is cooked into the toast in this case, there is no need for butters irreplaceable texture and margarine is a valid replacement. I am content with my methods for now, and although I have found use for margarine I still only carry butter in my own fridge. Butter has earned my loyalty, however, when I cook at Conor’s I am not averse to the option of margarine.
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