Four ingredients, no cooking, and the butter is the entire recipe. Toast is cut into fingers, spread generously with Bordier Espelette Pepper Butter that has been mixed with chopped sorrel, then topped with strips of dry-cured mountain ham. It is an aperitif snack in the French sense: something you put on the table with a glass and nothing else. It takes as long as it takes to toast four slices of bread.
At a glance
- Difficulty: Easy
- Serves: 4
- Active time: Not stated by the source. The recipe is a single assembly step.
- Cook: None beyond toasting the bread
- Key ingredient: 50 g (1.8 oz) Bordier Espelette Pepper Butter
Why this works
Bread, butter and ham is the oldest French snack there is. What makes this version worth the trouble is that each of the three parts is doing something the other two cannot. Bordier's Espelette Pepper Butter dates from 2008, after Jean-Yves Bordier met an Espelette producer, and it is AOP Espelette pepper folded into salted butter. Espelette is not a hot chile. It sits somewhere around a mild paprika on heat, and what it actually brings is a smoky, slightly fruity warmth that builds slowly across a few bites rather than hitting you at once. Suspended in butterfat, it spreads evenly and coats the tongue, which is why the warmth lingers.
The sorrel is the counterweight. Sorrel shoots are sharply lemony from oxalic acid, and cutting some of them into the butter puts an acidic note directly against the salt of the ham and the fat of the butter. That is the whole architecture: fat and salt from below, heat through the middle, acid cutting across. Bordier churns by hand in Brittany on a traditional wooden malaxeur, which leaves the butter pliable enough to work the herbs through with a fork rather than a mixer.
Ingredients
Four servings, one slice of bread and one slice of ham per person.
| Ingredient | Metric | US |
|---|---|---|
| Bordier Espelette Pepper Butter | 50 g | 1.8 oz (about 3 1/2 tbsp) |
| Sorrel sprouts | 20 g | 0.7 oz (a generous handful) |
| Bread | 4 slices | 4 slices |
| Mountain ham | 4 slices | 4 slices |
Method
Step 1: Mix the butter, toast the bread, build the fingers
In a bowl, work the Bordier Espelette Pepper Butter together with some of the sorrel shoots, snipped with scissors. Hold back the rest of the shoots whole, for the top. Toast the slices of bread, then cut each one into strips. Spread them generously with the sorrel butter. Cut the ham into strips as well, lay it over the butter, and finish with the reserved sorrel shoots.
Tips from our kitchen
- Bring the butter to about 18°C before you mix. Fridge-cold butter will tear rather than blend, and you will end up mashing the sorrel into paste trying to force it. Twenty minutes on the counter is usually enough. If it starts to look greasy or glossy it has gone too far, so put it back in the fridge for five minutes.
- Snip the sorrel, do not chop it. Scissors cut cleanly. A knife bruises the leaves against the board and they release liquid, which turns the butter dull green and loosens it. This is why the recipe specifies scissors.
- Butter the toast while it is warm, not hot. Hot toast melts the butter straight through and you lose the layer of soft, cool butter that makes the bite work. Let the slices sit for a minute after they come out.
- Cut the toast before you butter it. Cutting afterward drags the topping and crushes the fingers. Slice the warm toast into three or four strips, then dress each one.
- Ask for the ham sliced thin, then tear it. Mountain ham cut too thick chews rubbery on a small piece of toast. Paper-thin slices torn into strips drape over the butter instead of sitting on top of it.
- Assemble at the last minute. Buttered toast holds for maybe ten minutes before it softens. Mix the butter ahead if you like, but toast and build just before you carry the plate out.
How to serve it
These are aperitif food, meant to be eaten standing up with a cold glass of something dry. Put them on a board rather than plating them, and keep the rest of the spread simple so the Espelette has room to register: olives, radishes, maybe a tin of good conservas. Our guide to La Brújula Spanish conservas covers the tins we would open alongside them.
Where to buy Bordier Espelette Pepper Butter in the US
The French Pantry ships Bordier butter across the United States in insulated overnight packaging, straight from the workshop in Brittany.
- Churned Espelette Pepper Butter by Bordier (4.4 oz): AOP Espelette pepper churned into salted Breton butter, a slow, smoky warmth rather than sharp heat.
To see the rest of the flavored range, browse the Maison Bordier collection.
Frequently asked questions
How much Bordier Espelette butter do I need for this recipe?
The recipe calls for 50 g. A Bordier block is 125 g, or 4.4 oz, so one block covers this with 75 g to spare. If you are making these for a party of a dozen, buy two blocks and you will still have some left.
How hot is the Espelette butter?
Mild. AOP Espelette pepper sits close to paprika on the heat scale, and it is diluted through salted butter here, so the effect is a warm, smoky finish rather than a burn. It is comfortable for most people who would not describe themselves as chile eaters.
Can I substitute a different Bordier butter?
The Wild Garlic and Kampot Pepper Butter is the closest in spirit: semi-salted, savory, with pepper heat, and it works the same way against cured ham. The plain Salted Butter is also fine if you want the ham to lead.
What if I cannot find sorrel?
Sorrel is seasonal and often only at farmers markets. Watercress gives you a similar peppery bite, and young arugula works, though neither has sorrel's lemon acidity. A very small squeeze of lemon into the butter closes that gap.
How should I store the butter?
Keep it wrapped and refrigerated, and use it by the date on the pack. Flavored butter picks up other smells easily, so keep it away from anything strong in the fridge. It also freezes well: wrap the block tightly, freeze it whole, and thaw it overnight in the fridge.
Does Bordier butter need to be refrigerated?
Yes. Bordier butter is a fresh, hand-churned product and ships cold. Unpack it and refrigerate it as soon as it arrives, then take out only what you need for the recipe.
Related reading
- Bordier Butter: What It Is, Why Chefs Love It, and How to Use It
- How to Choose Your French Butter: A Buyer's Guide
- Terre Exotique
Recipe and photograph adapted from Maison Bordier, with thanks. The French Pantry is an authorized US retailer of Bordier butter.