Loeen Peanut Butter

Rating: 9/10

• 🥜 Category: Peanut, Smooth, Plain
• Country of origin: Switzerland

We begin the European peanut butter reviews with the jar that that got dented in transit and leaked slightly in my luggage. Tragic, but also fitting, because this was the jar that cost CHF15 (a reminder: roughly AUD 30) so clearly it had to make its presence known.

Loeen’s nut butters are made by a family-run Swiss business sourcing their nuts from a farm in Iran. This peanut butter is completely unseasoned: just pure roasted peanuts. No salt, no sugar. Usually I approach "naked" peanut butter with caution because I do like a little salt to wake things up, but this might be the best unseasoned peanut butter I've tried to date (!!!). The natural sweetness is beautiful, the roast is gentle. I guess you could say the whole experience tastes expensive in a minimalist way, like sparse prose meant to be savoured.

So far, it has been extremely welcome spooned over my wintery baked oats with a small sprinkle of (Trader Joe's) pumpkin pie spice. Is part of this the placebo effect of eating rare, gourmet, expensive, international peanut butter? Maybe, but I can't say it's not working...

Incoming: Souvenirs From a Sweet/Savoury Trip to Europe

I have returned from Europe! I am fully back in my original timezone and recovered from jetlag and carrying what I believe to be a very reasonable haul! Some people bring home magnets, postcards, cheesy shot glasses (my partner), or tasteful local ceramics... I brought home jars of PB. One of them was AUD30 because the conversion from Swiss Francs... let's don’t talk about it. My bank account may never recover.

Across various international grocery store visits - one of my favourite travel activities and, frankly, a key pillar of cultural research - I managed to acquire a little lineup of peanut butters from Finland, Estonia, Switerland, Belgium, and Germany. (The trip has also made me more insufferable in other ways, because I have picked up French lessons again and the second thing my class learned about me (after my name) was that J'aime beacoup le beurre de cacahuète.)

Reviews are coming as soon as I come back from the combined effects of marathon recovery, building up a laundry backlog, and the emotional weight that is owning these rare acquisitions and writing about them. Please respect this important work.