Rai Mincey is a food writer and baking enthusiast whose focuses include culinary history, seasonal cooking, and Southern cuisine. She splits her time between Birmingham, Alabama, and Tulum, Mexico.

Nobody does butter — sorry, I mean, beurre — like the French. Whether it’s the luscious brunch staple hollandaise sauce or a pastry-making technique that calls for wrapping a buttery dough around a ...