- Season
- Available all year round in the chilled dairy section.
- Price
- Low
- Nutrition per 100 g
- 277 kcal
- 2 g protein
- 28 g fat
- 3 g carbs
Spreadable butter
Dairy
Spreadable butter
Pomazánkové máslo, now sold as "tradiční pomazánkové", is a Czech fresh dairy spread made from cultured (soured) cream and dried milk. It comes in small plastic tubs, usually 150 g, and is not butter.
In practice
How to store
- On the counter
Do not keep it at room temperature. It is a fresh, perishable dairy product. Take it out only for as long as you need to make sandwiches or a spread.
- In the fridge
Keep it at 2–8 °C. Unopened, follow the use-by date on the tub (producers give about five weeks from production). Once opened, close it and eat it within about two days, using a clean knife.
- In the freezer
Freezing is not recommended. The emulsion tends to separate and turn grainy when it thaws. Spreads made with it are best made fresh.
How to choose
Look for "tradiční pomazánkové" on the lid. Common versions are Madeta's "Jihočeské pomazánkové tradiční" and the products of other Czech dairies and store brands. Read the ingredients. The genuine product lists cream (smetana), dried milk, dried buttermilk or whey, often a little potato starch, salt and a cream culture. Lookalike tubs with almost identical packaging may contain vegetable fat, often palm fat, or yoghurt. These are legally a different product, such as a "směsný roztíratelný tuk" (blended spread). The legal range for the real thing is 31–36 % milk fat, so the label should state at least 31 %. Choose an intact, well-chilled tub with plenty of time left before the date. There are plain and flavoured versions (chives, garlic, herbs, Niva) and lactose-free ones.
What to swap in
Best swap
Full-fat cream cheese mixed with a spoonful of sour cream or crème fraîche. This comes closest in texture and gentle tang.
In a pinch
Softened butter beaten with a little full-fat quark (tvaroh) or thick sour cream. The fat content will be higher and the flavour richer.
Preparation
You don't need to prepare it. Spread it straight from the fridge on bread or rolls (rohlík), often topped with chives, radishes or sliced vegetables. It is mostly used as the base for Czech homemade spreads (pomazánky). Mix it with grated cheese, chopped hard-boiled eggs, tuna, smoked mackerel, finely chopped ham, garlic or herbs, then season with salt and pepper. Chill these spreads and eat them within one to two days.
Don't toss it
Use up the last spoonfuls of an opened tub by stirring them into mashed potatoes or a creamy sauce off the heat. You can also mix them with leftover cheese ends, boiled eggs or herbs to make a small batch of spread for the next day's bread.
In the kitchen
Cooking
It is mainly eaten cold: spread on bread or mixed into cold spreads for open sandwiches (chlebíčky), snacks and children's school lunches. It is not good for frying or baking in place of butter. The fat content is too low and it contains starch and milk solids, so it splits and scorches. You can stir a spoonful into warm mashed potatoes or into a sauce at the end of cooking, off the boil, for creaminess.
Goes well with
- Rye Bread
- Rohlík Rolls
- Chives
- Radishes
- Hard-Boiled Eggs
- Garlic
- Smoked Fish
- Ham
- Hard Cheese
- Niva Blue Cheese
- Paprika
- Cucumber
What it is
Pomazánkové máslo, now sold as "tradiční pomazánkové", is a Czech fresh dairy spread made from cultured (soured) cream and dried milk. It comes in small plastic tubs, usually 150 g, and is not butter. Czech law (vyhláška 397/2016 Sb.) defines it as a dairy product made from soured cream with added milk powder. Dried whey or buttermilk may be added. It must contain 31–36 % milk fat by weight and at least 42 % dry matter. The fat must be milk fat only. Makers homogenise the cream mixture at high pressure, sour it with cultures, heat-treat it, and homogenise it again before filling the tubs. The result is a smooth, soft spread. It is somewhere between a thick cream cheese and a light whipped butter, and it spreads straight from the fridge. Since 2013–2014 it cannot be sold as "máslo" (butter), because under EU rules "butter" is reserved for products with 80–90 % milk fat, and reduced-fat butters must fall within fixed bands (60–62 % or 39–41 %) that it does not meet. Most Czechs still call it pomazánkové máslo.
How it tastes
Clean, milky and creamy with a gentle lactic sourness from the cream culture, and only a little salt. It is noticeably lighter and fresher than butter, and less sharp than quark or cream cheese. Flavoured versions taste of chives, garlic, herbs or Niva blue cheese.
Common questions
Is pomazánkové máslo butter?
Why was pomazánkové máslo renamed?
How do I tell genuine tradiční pomazánkové from an imitation?
Can I cook or bake with pomazánkové máslo instead of butter?
How long does it keep once opened?
Deep dive
3 min read
Varieties
Plain (bez příchuti)
is the standard version at about 31 % fat. It is used both on bread and as a base for spreads.
Flavoured versions
usually contain chives (pažitka), garlic, herbs or Niva blue cheese. Some producers also add ham, paprika or horseradish.
Lactose-free versions
are made with the lactose split, for people who avoid lactose. They still contain milk protein.
Imitations
look similar in round tubs but replace some of the milk fat with vegetable fat or use yoghurt. Under Czech law they are not tradiční pomazánkové.
Relatives (different products)
Slovakia has the same product, also renamed after the EU ruling. Spreadable butter and butter-oil blends sold elsewhere in Europe are real butter or blended fats with far more fat. Cream cheese and quark are cheeses made by coagulating milk, not cultured cream spreads.
History
Czech sources trace the product to the late 1970s, when a dairy in Liberec developed it during the Czechoslovak era. It became a household staple in both Czechia and Slovakia, and Czech output is reported at several thousand tonnes a year.
After the Czech Republic joined the EU, the name became a problem. EU marketing rules reserve "butter" for products with at least 80 % milk fat, and pomazánkové máslo has about 31 %. The Czech Republic tried to keep the name, including by applying for registration as a traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG). The European Commission refused, and in 2015 the EU General Court dismissed the Czech challenge.
Producers had already renamed the product in 2013–2014, mostly as "tradiční pomazánkové". The recipe stayed the same, and the old name is still used every day.
Science
The product is a cultured, homogenised dairy emulsion. Lactic acid bacteria sour the cream, which gives the mild tang and thickens the protein. High-pressure homogenisation breaks the milk fat into very small droplets, giving a smooth, soft body. Added milk powder and buttermilk or whey powder raise the dry matter, and a little starch helps stabilise the texture. Thermisation, a mild heat treatment after souring, extends shelf life. A final homogenisation produces the even, spreadable consistency.
Because it contains far more water (around 57 %) and much less fat than butter, it behaves like a fresh dairy product, not a cooking fat.
Sourcing and ethics
The genuine product is made by Czech dairies, including large producers such as Madeta, mostly from domestic cow's milk cream. The quickest check on what you are buying is the ingredient list. Real tradiční pomazánkové uses only milk fat, while cheaper lookalikes may include palm or other vegetable fats. If palm oil matters to you, check this before you buy. The State Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority (SZPI) checks whether products sold under the traditional name meet the legal composition.