03/10/2026
TRY, BUY LOCAL!
Monica Cavarsan grew up on a dairy farm in Western Victoria where she developed a deep appreciation for where food comes from and the people behind it. One thing she never forgot was the taste of the butter her family made themselves.
As she got older, she found herself missing that rich, buttery flavour, the experience that came with it and the little imprints of her teeth left in the butter after taking a bite of toast. When she couldn't find anything that gave her the same satisfaction, she decided to make her own.
And so, LardAss Butter was born. The small butter factory produces cultured butter the old-fashioned way, resulting in what Monica describes as “a very buttery and creamy butter”. It's also why Monica can't start her workday without a big bite of butter on sourdough toast.
On a day off, you'll likely find her walking her two pooches along the beach at Collendina, having lunch at The Dunes Ocean Grove, and browsing vintage stores for classic cookbooks, hats or another addition to her collection of butter dishes.
One of Monica’s proudest achievements is one that might be on your shelves soon. A book about butter! She says The Butter Cookbook is Australia's first book devoted entirely to butter and calls writing it as a dream come true. We can’t wait to read it!
