Thursday, May 29, 2008

The butter roll, yay or nay?



Cookout season has begun, and nothing goes better with a hamburger or some grilled chicken than some fresh corn on the cob. My question is this- how do you butter your corn? The pat (as pictured) or the roll (taking the corn and rolling it directly onto a stick of butter, creating a permanent groove in the butter)? This was a subject of much controversy in my family, because my mother's family does the roll, but it drives my father crazy, so it was forbidden in our household. However, whenever we ate corn on the cob at my grandparents' house, we would roll that corn all up in that butter with glee, while my father glared and muttered under his breath about the "McHugh butter thing." Ah, good times. Nowadays, I do the pat. The roll is tempting, mostly because being a Rule Breaker sure is fun, plus it really does get the best butter distribution, but it still strikes me as so uncouth.

So let's hear it folks- the butter roll, or the pat? Leave your preference in the comments.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

the butter roll grosses me out...

J.R. said...

you're a liberated woman. Roll Away!!

J.R. said...

...and for the record, patting the butter onto your corn is one small small step away from eating pizza with a fork.

Anonymous said...

Butter roll. When we were kids, we took a pat and rubbed it with our hands all over the corn cob. (Yikes...what were my parents thinking?) Anyway, we do the butter roll in our home.

Ed said...

Totally the roll. You're gonna chomp away at the darned thing anyways, how couth is that? :)

Unknown said...

Rolling wasn't allowed in my house. So I pat. However, Jen cheats...she sprays!

Anonymous said...

I seem to be in the no butter at all minority.

Anonymous said...

Butter a slice of bread and then roll. Is that overly complicated?

Anonymous said...

I was just going to share about Ryan's odd combo roll, by putting a big piece of butter on a slice of bread, and then rubbing the bread all over the corn which melts the butter. I was a critic until I tried it... although I generally just do the "Pat" myself. hehe

eileen said...

I like this new butter the bread, then roll concept. I'll have to give it a shot.

Suldog said...

The Pat, but, alas, I haven't been able to eat corn on the cob for a few years now. I have dental implants. They are amazingly good, and don't interfere with any normal functions, but corn on the cob is the one thing I don't want to tempt fate with. I miss it. It was one of my favorites!

Kris said...

Growing up in Indiana, it was ROLL all the way. Yeah, you have to sacrifice a whole stick of butter, but that just means you need to EAT MORE SWEET CORN. It's a win-win situation!

Unfortunately I have run into a shocking sweet corn related problem in Australia: butter does not come in long skinny sticks. It comes in short fat blocks. So either you waste, like, half a pound of butter doing the roll (because nobody wants to spread that on their toast afterwards, do they?) or you go for the pat. So now in my old age I go for the pat. Oh, how I miss my carefree childhood days of the roll!

Kris said...

Oh! I just remembered a new CRAZY method of butter application I've seen here. Occasionally at fairs and festivals they'll have a booth selling sweet corn on a stick, and when you request butter on yours, they dunk it into a pot of hot water that has a floating layer of melted butter on top. As you pull the corn out, the butter coats the entire outside. It's a pretty elegant solution... except for the nasty bucket of congealed butter they're probably left with at the end of the day.

Anonymous said...

you would think i'd do the pat, [insert inappropriate comment here]... but i'm actually in the no butter at all minority camp. guilty secret - that does not stop me from excessively salting the corn.

jay said...

No butter! You of all people should know that it'll kill we lactose intolerant people!
But I'm totally a margerine patter.

eileen said...

RT- the butter dunk sounds efficient, but sort of gross.

Jay- Yeah, technically, I pat with margerine (which I can't spell, either), but I just pretend that it's butter.

S said...

I use small pats down the entire cob and then roll it on my plate. This is only because I don't usually buy sticks of butter.

carmen said...

i had never really thought of it and until your post i had forgotten that we used to do the roll! can you believe my father allowed that? good times.

Kevin said...

Have none of y'all ever come across Butter Boy or Butter Girl? It's the wave of the future! I bought mine at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota, but you can get them at various home goods stores or online. Let's end this pat/roll debate once and for all!

http://www.wrapables.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=C51139

Anonymous said...

I do the slice of bread roll. But...it is not a new method, I actually picked it up from the movie War Games in the 80s and who knows how long before that people were doing it?

Mrs. V said...

You might think this is gross, but I actually tried it and it was good. The Mexicans put mayonnaise on the corn and then sprinkle parmesan cheese. Talk about an un-American adulteration of good ol corn-on-the-cob...hee hee...but it was good.

eileen said...

Kevin- your Butter Boy and Butter Girl look like Butter Deoderant. Kris agrees.

Hmmm...the parmesean cheese part sounds good, but not the mayo.