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Eat & Drink

4/20 recipe for ‘weed’ butter from chef Michael J. Cirino

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  • For the purposes of this demonstration, oregano stands in for marijuana. Note: the amount pictured here is more than is needed for this recipe.
    Photo Credit: Georgia Kral
  • Important to your enjoyment of the
    Photo Credit: Georgia Kral
  • Without the chemical process called decarboxylation, eating weed will have little effect. Cirino, who has a background in molecular gastronomy and chemistry, said that the psychoactive compounds in the marijuana won’t be “turned on” without adding heat. When smoking or vaporizing, the heat from those sources allows the process of decarboxylation to occur. When you’re going to consume edible marijuana, you must add heat.

    Cirino recommends using a fat with a high smoking point. In this demonstration, he used beef tallow (rendered fat), but duck fat also works well, he said.

    Weed butter recipe (8 servings):

    Ingredients:

    50 grams tallow or duck fat

    150 grams butter

    0.5 grams legally-sourced cannabis

    salt, shallots, fine herbs to taste

    Cook the “weed” in the tallow over low heat in a double boiler for about 3 hours. Can be stored covered in refrigerator for up to one week.

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    Photo Credit: Georgia Kral
  • Cirino adds other fine herbs to his
    Photo Credit: Georgia Kral
  • After the
    Photo Credit: Georgia Kral
  • Incorporate the tallow evenly throughout the butter.
    Photo Credit: Georgia Kral
  • In this case, the steak. Any cut will work.
    Photo Credit: Georgia Kral
  • For Cirino, in order for cannabis to cast off its stigma, the plant must be considered in the way other vices (caffeine, alcohol) are considered. For example, weed should be something we can enjoy in smaller doses.
    Photo Credit: Georgia Kral
  • The dose in this recipe, according to Cirino, is what he calls a
    Photo Credit: Georgia Kral

For chef Michael J. Cirino, it’s high time for cannabis to enter the culinary lexicon.

Like other “legal” intoxicants, including caffeine and alcohol, cannabis, too, can be used in moderation, he said. Consuming edibles need not be associated with complete intoxication.

“Wine, coffee … Those vices and others, everything except cannabis has been accepted into modern society,” he said. By understanding the chemical compounds of the plant and learning how to take lighter doses, Cirino hopes cannabis will reach a similar status.

Cirino is teaching cooking with cannabis courses at the Brooklyn Kitchen in Williamsburg. The first is April 20 (4/20) and is sold out. The next is on May 11. (Editor’s note: Throughout this piece, we are discussing cooking with pot, but marijuana is not legal for recreational use in New York. Therefore, a stand-in was used: oregano.)

Here’s how to make “weed” butter:

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