Maggie was whisking the ingredients in the bowl in front of me.  “Everything is better with butter!” she said, beaming mischievously and throwing in another tablespoon of butter.

And it all makes sense. I always knew that butter tasted better than margarine but then we told to save our hearts. Pictures of fat globules clogging arteries were placed on billboards around the world.  We were condemned to a life of margarine.

We smiled less. Fresh bread didn’t taste the same. Actually, nothing tasted the same.

I often reflect on that momentous moment on TV a few years ago when Maggie Beer revealed what we all secretly knew. She smiled knowingly as she brought butter back into the fold, and jubilation filled the kitchens around Australia. The directive from our Cooking Queen! And it’s been confirmed that real butter provides essential fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins. Eaten in moderation and using olive oil as well, all will be well.

Happily, a benzoate allergy has also brought me back to beautiful butter. And childhood memories of family dairy farms and fresh butter and cream as a parting gift after a visit. Earthy and natural. Real. Strangely, all my extended dairy farming families reached eighty despite lifelong loads of butter consumption.

Back to the present here in the Barossa, I still hope to catch a glimpse of Maggie Beer in the flesh. And like many others, I’ll wave and shout “Everything is better with Butter!” 

(As published in The Leader, Barossa 16 September 2026)