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Pepe Saya Butter: Taste Meets Fashion

Lick it. Spread it. Slather it.

Hold it in your mouth then swallow it.

“Passion cannot be controlled. Passion controls you,” says Pierre Issa. “And this is how Pepe Saya butter is made.”

Pepe Saya Butter Models
Pepe Saya Butter – © Henryk

His cultured butter is what haute couture is to fashion. Custom design and hand-made techniques begin with grass roots, passion and respect for the produce – key elements that intertwine and flow from farmer to butter maker to restaurant and retailer.

Behind the sensual pleasures of sassy models feasting on butter with empty wrappers strewn on the table lie hand-crafted methods that give Pepe Saya a much-lauded advantage.

The cream is procured from single origin dairy farms that only have grass-fed herds. Left to ripen naturally for two weeks, the cream is fermented for twenty hours with a lactic culture then aged for an additional two weeks. The butter is then churned and hand-worked but remains unhomogenised with the characteristic tiny bits of water through it.

The couture approach does not end there. Pepe ensures that the butter is cut, moulded and packaged to retail stores and restaurants around Australia according to their requirements. And with a stream of highly acclaimed restaurants including Sepia, Aria, Rockpool Bar and Grill and Arras serving or cooking with his butter, the passion for his craft is passed along to discerning palates.

Humble beginnings in a small Sydney factory have taken this Australian producer to the likes of the Eveleigh and Harris Farm Markets and propelled his products into Qantas First Class and Quarter Twenty One store among others, with renowned butcher Victor Churchill stocking exclusive hand-stamped Pepe Saya cultured butter.

Available in salted or unsalted pats, consumers have taken to the creamy taste with a light tang on the finish. With a product that epitomises food design and goodness, Pepe Saya butter is a must-have accessory for the dinner table.

Because quality always remains in fashion.

Pepe Saya Butter Pierre Issa
Pepe Saya Butter – © Henryk

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Next The making of the Pepe Saya butter fashion shoot with behind-the-scenes photos by Gourmantic. Pepe tells us his vision behind the sassy photo, how the idea was born and developed with high-end fashion photographer Henryk Lobaczewski. We reveal how Gourmantic took part in this exciting food meets fashion photo shoot at the prestigious Bécasse restaurant!

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Pepe Saya Photo Shoot Credits:

 Starring:  Pepe Saya Butter http://www.pepesaya.com.au
 Photographer:  Henryk http://www.henrykphoto.com
 Location:  Bécasse http://www.becasse.com.au
 Models:  Amelia Hughes (left) http://theagencymodels.com.au
   Renée Slansky (right) http://www.gordonmanagement.com.au
 Hair & Make-Up:  Amelia Axton http://www.ameliaaxton.com
 Styling:  Janai Anselmi http://www.janaianselmi.com
 Nail Artist:  Cindy Vellis cindy(at)freehanddesign(dot)com.au
 Behind-the-Scenes Photography:    Corinne & Kevin http://www.gourmantic.com
 Henryk Photo Assistants:  Freya Yazbeck  
   Tianna Buller-Rushworth  
 Butter Security Manager:  Merna Taouk http://homemadefinefoods.com.au

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Update 4/10/2012 – The photo was voted as one of the finalists for the 2012 Shoot the Chef photo competition. The collection is currently on display on level 6 of Westfield Sydney during the Crave Sydney food festival.

About the author

Corinne Mossati

Corinne Mossati is a drinks writer, author of GROW YOUR OWN COCKTAIL GARDEN, SHRUBS & BOTANICAL SODAS and founder/editor of Gourmantic, Cocktails & Bars and The Gourmantic Garden. She has been writing extensively about spirits, cocktails, bars and cocktail gardening in more recent years. She is a spirits and cocktail competition judge, Icons of Whisky Australia nominee, contributor to Diageo Bar Academy, cocktail developer and is named in Australian Bartender Magazine's Top 100 Most Influential List. Her cocktail garden was featured on ABC TV’s Gardening Australia and has won several awards. She is a contributor to Real World Gardener radio program and is featured in several publications including Pip Magazine, Organic Gardener, Australian Bartender and Breathe (UK). Read the full bio here.

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