Oh dairy, dairy me
A DUNEDIN centenarian with a longing for creamy butter now has all the dairy she can wave a knife at.
Olga Janssen celebrated her 100th birthday at her Mosgiel resthome last month.
In an interview with the
Otago Daily Times, she mentioned she loved butter, but these days was never given any.
Since then, both Dairyworks in Christchurch and Bay of Plentyfounded Lewis Road Creamery have offered to supply Mrs Janssen with all her butter needs.
Upon receiving more than 20 blocks this week, she was overwhelmed.
‘‘It’s unbelievable. Is it all for me? Thank you very much.’’
The companies indicated if she should have future cravings, all she needed to do was ask.
Mrs Janssen was born in Utrecht, in the Netherlands, and moved to New Zealand with husband Caspar in 1952.
She attributes her love for butter to her cultural heritage.
‘‘I put it on bread, in cakes. I cooked meat in butter. It’s a Dutch thing.’’
The gifts were especially welcome as the resthome usually provided only margarine.
Mrs Janssen grimaced at the thought of its ‘‘fatty taste’’.
To allow her to make the most of the lifetime supply, she would try to live longer than planned, she said.
‘‘We’ll say another 10 years.’’ Her daughter Madelon White said she would take the excess butter home and bake for her, Mrs Janssen said.
Luckily, she knew recipes which used a lot, including Dutch butter cake (boterkoek).
‘‘That’s worth living a few more years for.’’
Mrs Janssen has had a full life, which included delivering resistance newspapers criticising the Nazi regime in the Netherlands in the 1940s.
She was arrested for this and spent more than six months in concentration camps, including the infamous Dachau.
A Lewis Road Creamery spokeswoman said the company was delighted Mrs Janssen was a butter fanatic, so thought she should have some to enjoy on her 100th birthday.
A Dairyworks spokeswoman said after reading Mrs Janssen’s story, the firm felt she deserved as much as she wanted.