I was motivated enough by this to seek out some of the mustards he mentioned -- and it looks like the Beaver Olde English is no longer on their web page? Has it been discontinued?
Not sure, but I've found almost all Beaver condiments (not just their mustards I've tried) to be worth the trouble to find, especially their Tartar Sauce.
One upside, I suppose, of living in Portland is that Beaver is just 'the standard condiment brand I get at the grocery store.' I do like their stuff, and their tartar sauce was what made me try their other products.
The one called the "Rolls Royce" of mustard, Pommery Meaux, costs $12.49 on amazon.com while amazon.ca has the same item for $58.64. Beyond the exchange rate, this must have something to do with duties or just plain greed.
“Find something not on amazon and put it there at a hugely inflated price” is a way some people make money by finding obscure things to sell. If anyone actually starts buying it somebody will come in and bring the price down with competition, if not sometimes the high price is justified because keeping things in amazon warehouses isn’t free and spending the time to get something sold on amazon when you only expect to sell a few costs lots of money for the reward. The benefit is that you can find almost anything on amazon.
I'd also like to add English mustard to that list, most notably the Colmans's brand. I found it odd to not be there but I suppose it's not a thing found commonly abroad? It's ubiquitous in the UK - like French's is the the US. It comes in both a bottle and powdered form, with the later capable of blowing a mans head clean off. Closer to Wasabi from my experience.
I gave a bottle of the stuff as a present to my host when on a rugby tour in Canada. Didn't mention that it's not the type you use on hotdogs (it's generally used as a condiment for a roast dinner with beef, used sparingly). I received a very funny video a week later of them as a dribbling mess.
I'm surprised the powder form of Colman's isn't a controlled substance. Not enough water and its essentially death paste. Sneeze near an open container of the powder and you'll probably need to move house and have facial reconstruction surgery.
I pity your friend for slathering it on a hot dog, first bite must've been quite a shock.
I believe most mustard powder is roughly the same. The difference is in how much acid(usually vinegar) you mix in to slow the reaction which creates the spiciest compounds. Pure water usually gives you a very hot mustard with a short lifetime(i.e. 'Chinese mustard').
"A few weeks after my Mr. Wonton, and since all I could talk about was my mustard quest, I mentioned to a friend the Chinese food thing. He mentioned that he’s also a fan of spicy mustard on his eggroll, and wondered had I tried Colman’s (12). I had tried Colman’s in the past, and Beard had it at number 16 on his list, but I didn’t think to try the English mustard with an eggroll. I guess I was too focused on the idea that Chinese mustard is best for Chinese food, and that isn’t wrong, but the Colman’s was a killer choice. Not as hot, but enough kick to clear out your nostrils. Big fan."
Colman’s English mustard in a jar is hot: it gets used in similar amounts to wasabi as a comparison (most people would use even a teaspoonful with a meal).
There is no way you would put it in a squeezy bottle at the same strength, so the squeezy version can’t be the same. I would guess the squeezy bottle version is for the US market - it is unavailable in NZ for example: https://www.colmans.co.nz/products/
Ah, not sure how I missed that. I will say that the powder is my preferred choice however. I believe the squeezy bottle which he uses has vinegar, so is not comparable to the normal recipe.
Vinegar is the troll of cuisine. It spots something good and immediately initiates an agenda to interfere and corrupt. It's a pugnacious product and can drive innocent people to madness. This is exhibited by the apple cider version, which a quick perusal of the interwebs will show those who come into contact with it often becoming delusional, attributing such panaceal powers to it as healing decapitation, curing plane crashes, stopping AIDS, and detoxifying the absence of good taste. The practice of not changing one's socks for months in tropical climates is not a recipe for good sauce. Why, then, foist this squalid fomentation onto mustard, or anything that hasn't wronged our species?
The entire Prohibition was based on the simple misunderstanding of this stuff usurping alcohol. If they had only known.
> (it's generally used as a condiment for a roast dinner with beef, used sparingly)
I'd suggest that horseradish sauce is more commonly associated with a roast beef dinner, but English mustard is certainly acceptable. However, it reigns supreme with cold cuts of ham. Also, I consider English mustard to be essential in a bacon sandwich. Just good white bread, good butter, grilled (preferably smoked) bacon and a good spread of mustard. Simple but stunning.
English mustard is great. I'd say export it to Europe, but no one will like it because they consider French (and some, German) mustards superior. It's the cheese and sausage situation all over again :D
American? You mean what's widely available in USA?
Sweet/acidic 'mustard' just is not mustard. That is marketing BS, maube catered to youngsters who cannot yet handle spicy food? It is something else than mustard, containing a little bit of mustard, like mayonaisse does. A chararacteristic element of mustard is the fact it is spicy. Therefore, mustard is always spicy. If they specifically mention spicy, it is very spicy.
As long as I get real mustard when it looks like it (mentions mustard), and its mentioned when its spicy (read: more than normal mustard), I am happy. When I get that acidic/sweet crap I am not happy. Its easy to recognize though. The color is lighter than the real deal, and the structure is very creamy.
I just buy local mustard, Zaanse and Groninger. But the structure isn't creamy and you need to mix them before grabbing content else you end up with an acidic leftover in the bottle.
Careful there; you dismissed not only Dijon mustard but also Bavarian sweet mustard, both very traditional mustards.
Considering that even the word mustard comes from old French, it is worth considering that mustards can be created to fit more than just one taste profile.
One local mustard that is extremely popular in my country in certain eateries is yellow mustard seeds mixed with an equal amount of room temperature water, left to sit at room temperature and never refrigerated for example; try at your own risk though.
Dijon mustard is quite spicy though, but it's that "up to the nose" spiciness. Eastern European mustards are usually milder and what I had in north is more spicy in the traditional sense.
One thing that I find surprising in France, is how little variety there is in mustard in most supermarkets. Basically you have a choice of dijon mustard from 20 different brands that all taste the same and then some "old fashioned" ones.
I would not lump all Eastern Europeans mustards into one bunch. Some Polish mustards remind me of the sweet Bavarian type which is constrasted by some Russian very spicy kinds.
There are tons of different Polish mustard's that are really nice as well. They are very easy to find in the UK. I'm sure that would be the case in the US as well if you know where to look.
If you ever find this one[0], buy it, it's the greatest. My local stores in the UK have this company's mustards in stock but not this particular (and superior) variant
> Pommery moutarde de meaux: Truly excellent. You can put it on something as simple as a sandwich and elevate it, or you can put it on grilled meats like lamb or veal. This is the Rolls Royce of mustard.
This is a whole grain mustard and imo far better than maille.
My parents graduated a while ago from Maille's "moutarde à l'ancienne" to Pommery - definitely the more sophisticated option. Maille's "moutarde à l'ancienne" isn't bad at all though and it is actually a slightly different variety so both can peacefully cohabitate in the same fridge. I still have a soft spot for Maille's "moutarde au poivre vert" I grew up with.
I go through 10-ish jars a year of various brands of coarse-ground, whole seed mustard. Personally, I feel there is no better topping on most meats and deli sandwiches.
Mustard snobs would point out that Maille doesn't deserve it's heritage mystique as they haven't used mustard seeds from their historical home of Burgundy for many years. They are all imported from Canada, probably coinciding with the purchase by Unilever(?).
Wasn't there a class action lawsuit a year or two ago asserting that Maille was Made in Canada but the labels led 60% of the people to believe it is Made in France.
I feel like whenever I see a previously foreign brand show up on the shelves of Costco, I know they sold out to some billon dollar conglomerate and taste and quality are never the same, e.g. Galbani Mascarpone - used to be difficult to find and was imported from Italy. Now you can find it at large retailers, says "No 1 in Italia," at times it is plastered with the Italian flag and is usually made by Lactalis, its parent company, in your regional production facilities. You can taste the difference.
German Senf mustards (have one running dangerously low in the fridge from Munich) changed my sausage and (some) grilled meat consumption experience.
I still enjoy other types from time to time, east european, dijon with seeds etc. but Senf's mild taste allows me to appreciate meat flavors so much more and it pairs well with practically anything.
Now I prefer it to any other mustard, apart from making sauces paired with white fish.
Kozliks' Triple Crunch is superb to make salad dressings as it adds a lot of texture and flavour. Their maple mustard is also very good for this purpose.
You answered my primary question about the article's contents - the lack of lumpy mustard coverage is unfortunate. I find I require my fancy mustards to be composed almost entirely of whole seeds, otherwise a regional ballpark mustard does the job.
Also I will check out karashi, thanks. Is it like wasabi where the traditional preparation is rare but there's a passable industrial simulation universally available?
Not that I know of, it's the same plant as Western mustard. The standard form factor is S&B's little squeezy tubes, identical in size to those used for wasabi.
> * German mustards! Sweet Bavarian senf is obligatory for white sausage (weisswurst).
What I would give for a real Weisswurst, even in Portland basically impossible to find. There are a few attempts but nothing that comes close to a real Bavarian one.
Less than a 20 hour drive away from Portland there is Continental Gourmet Sausage[1] (in Glendale, CA) which does pretty solid impressions of German sausage. I'm actually not a Weisswurst fan, so I haven't tried theirs, but their Knackwurst and Bratwurst are good and they even have Kaesekrainer which is my Austrian guilty pleasure.
While I broadly agree with this, I would say that my own attempts at making mint sauce were fairly disappointing in comparison with shop-bought - Colman's mint sauce is an awful lot nicer than anything I was able to make, and (though I've never tried to make it) I bet their wonderful mustard is too.
You will probably also not be able to make at home anything all that similar to the mayonnaise you buy in a shop, though what you can make at home will almost certainly be equally as nice (my children were confused by the yellowish colour of home-made mayonnaise, which is sort of backwards since the confusing thing ought to be why shop-bought mayonnaise is white!).
Another advantage is that making your own x from scratch is fun and satisfying. Mayonnaise, mustard, soda, barbecue sauce, gravlax, liver sausage — it's fun to see the things people buy ready-made, and know you have the knowledge and ability to do it yourself. Sometimes it's enough better to be worth the effort; sometimes, like catsup, you find that the store-bought is better — but you still have the fun of doing it and the satisfaction of knowing for sure.
Taste and spiciness. Yellow mustard seeds are milder and black mustard seeds are spicier. Brown seeds are usually in the middle. Most recipes usually call for specific amounts of each, once you know what you like, you can adjust them.
I highly recommend anyone reading this to try making their own mustards. I make a couple large batches every year or two (whenever we run out) and jar them up in mason jars and everyone I know raves about them. One batch I made with a growler of hard cider from my local cidery that had been left in my fridge for too long and had gone sour. You can do all kinds of fun things making your own mustard and it's always worth it. Sometimes i'll throw some ginger in for a bit more punch.
This was quite a fun read - especially the self-deprecating humor and the little vignettes about how and where the author sampled the different mustards - but I was pretty surprised by the narrow selection.
In various parts of Europe there's a strong tradition of very geographically-specific types of mustard - often differing greatly in texture, strength, color and taste in neighboring towns or regions.
Also mustards can be seasonal - here in Sweden there are many mustards that are only available at Christmas, for instance - not to mention that people make their own mustards (also usually based on regional preferences).
I had the same impression regarding breadth. There's local mustards all over the US, which I was expecting more of. I still enjoyed reading it but was expecting something a little different.
>here in Sweden there are many mustards that are only available at Christmas
I have a theory that desserts that are only on holidays really sort of suck or they would have broken out of the holiday and are just getting by on the nostalgia factor - how are these mustards you talk about?
Also can you name some of them? I guess I can always take the train over to Malmö in a couple of months to pick some up to test the quality myself.
I think it depends. Lots of the food is a hassle to make, so only done for big occasions when it will serve many.
But some of it I agree. Never learned to enjoy the traditional Norwegian food. Now it's "fårikål season", which is basically just lamb+cabbage boiled for far too long. Or "smalahove" where you eat the sheep's head. Christmas is the samme. Take ribs of the lamb and damp with salty water. Might be lamb I don't like, though.
We have a ton of Christmas-only or Easter-only desserts in Italy, all very good. I'm guessing the short availability window increases sales, you just need to make sure you always have something in season ;) It's more of a tradition than anything else, really!
> take the train over to Malmö in a couple of months to pick some up
If it’s Christmas mustard you’re hoping to find, simply search online for ‘julsenap’ before your visit.
Regional variations will more likely turn up at Christmas Markets (julmarknader), but even normal grocery stores will have more to choose from at that time of year.
An unusual tradition - a hangover from a time when people used mustard for its medicinal properties - is that chemists sell julsenap at Christmas.
There are literally dozens of varieties to choose from nowadays - some of them including unconventional flavorings and spices. Here’s one example (not a recommendation! I’ve never tried this - just googled julsenap and this was one) which includes chili and lemon:
https://dellback.se/hovsenap-julsenap-chili-citron
Johnny's isn't good. For dishes like split pea soup, I recommend a visit to a Swedish apothecary in the month(s) before Christmas and Easter -- they have a great mustard which is particularly good for traditional food, and also (together with a creamier one like Graveleij and a little bit Dijon) great for mustard herring after my grandfather's recipe. :)
I also find that my desire for such a heavy drink decreases dramatically the warmer it is outside. My partner and I aged a batch of eggnog for a year, drinking 1/12th of it every month to see if there was a point at which the returns on aging diminished. It was genuinely difficult to be enthusiastic about sampling a glass of heavy cream, sugar, egg yolk, and bourbon on a 30° summer day.
Against this thought, which I have shared, I will oppose the pumpkin pie, which is a real delight, but almost always confined to American Thanksgiving, which has a strong historical connection to squash. I could do damage to a pumpkin pie right now.
On Thanksgiving growing up, my mother used to bake two pumpkin pies: one for me and one for the rest of the family. I've eaten 3/4 of one in a single day. I could easily eat a whole pie in a day if the shame didn't slow me down.
I sort of agree with pumpkin pie, but I have had some outside of the season and it did not taste as good as it did in the season, which makes me think that my thinking it was good was because of strong nostalgia factor.
My main exhibit for this is the Danish ris a la mande which is during Christmas, it tastes great to me (nostalgia) and Danes if told it's crap will defend it. But foreigners don't taste the goodness, and really if I think about it when eating I start to think: "you know, a tiramisu is better, so is risengrød for that matter, this stuff sort of sucks but I like it."
Ris a la mande also has a specific Christmas tradition associated with it (you have to feel with your mouth for the whole almond in it, and if you find it you get a gift) so doubling down on "it's not taste" explaining the love.
I think your theory explains some but not all seasonal foods.
Many are originally seasonal for logistical reasons: before refrigeration, food had to be eaten close to harvest time or preserved in some way. So you have pumpkin dishes in fall because that's when the pumpkins are ripe. Likewise tomato dishes in spring.
Winter holiday foods often get that association because they are preserved. We ate them then because we had nothing else to eat since the harvest is over. That gives you eggnog, cured meat, jams, etc.
Once a dish gets a strong association with a certain time of year, I think it tends to hold it because the association is part of the enjoyment. Sure, I could have a mug of eggnog in June, but it wouldn't be as magical.
> I have a theory that desserts that are only on holidays really sort of suck
I have a counter-example.
I love peppermint stick ice cream, and it is impossible that anyone might not also love it. :-)
When I was a kid back it was one of the always-available flavors at the nearby ice cream shop. I don't know if was just luck or not, but now it seems peppermint stick is available only around Christmas, and even then I often have a hard time finding it.
> I have a theory that desserts that are only on holidays really sort of suck or they would have broken out of the holiday and are just getting by on the nostalgia factor
People have time off on holidays, and families all get together increasing the available labor pool. Accordingly holiday foods can be more labor intensive than foods eaten during the rest of the year, which is an alternative explanation for why some foods only appear at holidays.
As another commenter mentioned, egg nog is one. Home made egg nog is a fair bit of work, doesn't keep for long (well depends on if you pre-mix the booze I guess), and is calorie dense enough that eating it year round would be a mistake.
Heck home made pies in general.
Also certain foods are a lot of work to get setup, but they scale up very well. It is just as much work to mull a little bit of wine as a lot of wine. Holiday cookies, kind of both. If you are rolling out cookie dough mine as well roll out a lot, and if you have lots of kids around, free labor to do the decoration!
As an aside, store bought eggnog is not good, if you don't like eggnog, try home made, you can adjust consistency, flavor profile, and sweetness dramatically. I never liked store eggnog, but on a whim I made it at home once and it turned out grand.
When you go to Greenpoint, Brooklyn's Polish neighborhood, there are supermarkets with multiple shelves dedicated to mustard with the slight regional and stylistic variation that you describe. I assume that the narrow selection was based on attempting to recreate Beard's list rather than all of the mustards available to a New Yorker.
The best yellow senape mustard I ever tried is one I bought at a middle/far east shop almost 20 years back. It was different from others I knew for having a harder consistency, a bit harder than peanut butter to give an idea; I had to apply some force with a spoon in its big jar to cut a piece. Used it to give more flavor to meat by putting it in the frying pan along with oil and other spices, and the result was delicious.
Unfortunately I don't recall the name, the shop changed owner although it still sells oriental spices, but now they have no idea of what product I'm talking about.
Does anyone know if such a type of "hard" senape mustard still exist?
Mustard is made by adding liquids to mustard seeds or their powder, which activates the chemical reaction in them to make them spicy. How spicy a mustard becomes depends on the temperature and acidity of the liquids, and on how long the reaction is allowed to go on - heating or cooling the mustard significantly will stop it, keeping a mustard cool once it reaches the desired hotness will preserve it at that spiciness level. As it is, I wonder what the ratio of solids to liquid was and if it was a pure mustard (without other spices or additives) since I have never even heard of a semi-solid mustard...
If you like Chinese mustard, you ought to try Russian “gorchitsa”, which stands for mustard in Russian. It’s very spicy, probably on a level of wasabi, which ought to be included too, now that I think of it.
Yes. I was shocked the first time I had real fresh-grated (on a sharkskin grater — TMI?) wasabi. I had expected it to be really hot but unlike its ersatz version, the real thing had only an initial heat, which then faded to reveal a complex of multi-layered flavors and aromas, "nutty" among them.
Or if you prefer yellow mustard for some things, I'd suggest Plochman's. Everyone I've had tried Plochman's never ever uses that garbage from French's ever again. It is such a wonderful mustard with just the right amount of bite.
I second this. I happened to be in Middleton, WI on National Mustard Day (which is apparently a real "holiday"). They had a bunch of mustard themed midway games set up and a band like a little festival. The museum itself was pretty neat as well. The gift shop is why I recommend people stop by if the happen to be in that part of Wisconsin. They have over 500 types of mustards you can buy[1], and have a free samples counter that lets you try probably around 10. Some of them are extremely unique. I think the oddest one I tried was the peach champagne mustard because for whatever reason I didn't expect it to be so sweet. I still use the classic beer mustard I bought from there.
To make mayonnaise you start with egg yolks and mustard (and maybe other seasonings): the mustard helps the mixture to emulsify. You can put more mustard in it, to make a mustard mayonnaise, or add more mustard later.
Mayonnaise normally already has mustard in it. But yes, you can always add more to improve the taste.
Easy homemade mayo recipe which will taste 1000% better than storebought:
To a tall container, add in this order:
Ingredients:
1 (egg)
1 soup spoon Dijon mustard (the strong kind)
1 soup spoon apple cider vinegar
salt/pepper
vegetable oil (about 2-3 cups)
Recipe:
- Blend ingredients by starting from the bottom and moving your soup blender up and down. Stop blending when it's nice and thick, don't over-blend. Should take 10 seconds or so.
I'm also a mustard lover and appreciate that the author didn't try to rank them - different mustards should be used for different occasions.
I will admit that I found it a bit amusing that this article appeared on the front page of HN with "Where Do Type Systems Come From". Clearly mustard type systems come from James Beard and now Jason Diamond.
I apologise in advance, but if necessary, will fight to the death in defense of Colman's being used on almost any occasion, whilst other imposters hunch quivering on the sidelines drooling at low hanging vittles. But as does Norris of Chuck look upward to Schneier of Bruce for inspiration and permission, Colman's looks to a proper habanero mustard for hope in a lonely world of vinegar tainted dribblings. Good on all occasions that don't involve zippers.
Edited: remove "e" from previous "Col[e]man's. Please pardon me for opening a potential Mustard in the Middle (MItM) vector.
Even during a time of pestilence where Amazon links infest every page on the web and condiments breach the discretionary ramparts of HN's frontpage, you must always mind what you handle after handling habaneros.
I have fought to the death and lost this duel, but Colman's will never die. Long live proper mustard! And habanero anything
I went there around 8 years ago thinking "oh, what a funny idea for a museum" and came away with the 2013 world champion mustard (Maille Dijon) and a love of mustard. That museum is really a (not so) hidden gem and I highly recommend it if you visit Madison, WI.
If you've got a bag of pretzels that need to be devoured rapidly, the Slimm & Nunne Sweet and Nicely Hot is just right. Its the mustard museum specialty brand - I haven't seen it anywhere outside of Wisconsin (though I'll admit I haven't necessarily looked too hard).
The furthest away from Madison, WI that I've found it in a store, however, was in a Festival Foods in Eau Claire, WI. I'm not sure how wide in other places it can be found. Like, can you find it in Chicago? Or Minneapolis? Or Des Moines?
I met the owner/operators of thetasteofgermany at the Christmas Market by the National Portrait Gallery just before Christmas 2019. German ex-pats, they were extremely friendly and knowledgeable, and excited to hear I had just returned from living in Germany. They have excellent products on offer---just what I was looking for to make it easy for me to answer the constant question I'd get: "What would you bring back from Germany if you could?"!
> "There I was, a grown man, planning a trip to the Mustard Museum in Wisconsin, when suddenly I heard a voice deep within me say, 'This is not what you want your life to be about.'"
"The Onion" was started in Madison IIRC, which is where the Mustard Museum [1,2] is.
> The museum was conceived and founded by Barry Levenson, former Assistant Attorney General of Wisconsin. It centers on a mustard collection he began in 1986 while despondent over the failure of his favorite baseball team, the Boston Red Sox, to win the 1986 World Series.
The Onion article is funny but I highly recommend the Mustard Museum (and shop!). A fun quirky place to visit just outside Madison and mustard makes for a great gift for anyone that likes to cook.
When I was touring Moutarderie Edmond Fallot [1] this summer they told us that mustard makers suffered the phylloxera crisis [1] more than the winemakers.
Originally, mustard was made out of the mix of mustard grains and the juice of bordelais grapes. Since bordelais was quite sour, it was not of particular importance to wine production. Once phylloxera hit, winemakers started rescuing important grape varieties and lost all bordelais species.
Since mid-XIX century, mustard is made out of, well, mustard grains, vinegar and water.
Barry Levenson, curator and CMO — "chief mustard officer" — of the National Mustard Museum, says a fit of despair led him to create the museum in 1986.
"My beloved Boston Red Sox lost the World Series," he says. "Decided I need a hobby to get over my depression. That's the morning I began collecting jars of mustard."
And Levenson, a lawyer by trade, quickly saw his hobby turn into an obsession.
"I argued a case at the U.S. Supreme Court," he says. "On my way to the court, I saw this little jar of mustard on a discarded room-service tray. I didn't have time to go back to my room. So I brought it with me and argued — and I had a jar of mustard in my pocket."
225 comments
[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 260 ms ] thread[0] https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00O8NG1J4/
[1] https://www.shopmsv.ca/shop/product/88326/Beaver_Hot_Olde_En...
https://gourmetwarehouse.ca/pommery-meaux-mustard-stone-jar-...
* French moutard a l'ancienne ("ancient" style), with mustard seeds left in. Maille's version is my go-to.
* Japanese karashi. Extremely spicy, so a little goes a long way, but a must for some Japanese dishes like oden.
* German mustards! Sweet Bavarian senf is obligatory for white sausage (weisswurst).
I gave a bottle of the stuff as a present to my host when on a rugby tour in Canada. Didn't mention that it's not the type you use on hotdogs (it's generally used as a condiment for a roast dinner with beef, used sparingly). I received a very funny video a week later of them as a dribbling mess.
I pity your friend for slathering it on a hot dog, first bite must've been quite a shock.
Marvellous stuff.
"A few weeks after my Mr. Wonton, and since all I could talk about was my mustard quest, I mentioned to a friend the Chinese food thing. He mentioned that he’s also a fan of spicy mustard on his eggroll, and wondered had I tried Colman’s (12). I had tried Colman’s in the past, and Beard had it at number 16 on his list, but I didn’t think to try the English mustard with an eggroll. I guess I was too focused on the idea that Chinese mustard is best for Chinese food, and that isn’t wrong, but the Colman’s was a killer choice. Not as hot, but enough kick to clear out your nostrils. Big fan."
The guy is not fit to write about mustard.
What about "Don't judge a book by its cover"?
There is no way you would put it in a squeezy bottle at the same strength, so the squeezy version can’t be the same. I would guess the squeezy bottle version is for the US market - it is unavailable in NZ for example: https://www.colmans.co.nz/products/
The entire Prohibition was based on the simple misunderstanding of this stuff usurping alcohol. If they had only known.
I'd suggest that horseradish sauce is more commonly associated with a roast beef dinner, but English mustard is certainly acceptable. However, it reigns supreme with cold cuts of ham. Also, I consider English mustard to be essential in a bacon sandwich. Just good white bread, good butter, grilled (preferably smoked) bacon and a good spread of mustard. Simple but stunning.
This is in the article
Sweet/acidic 'mustard' just is not mustard. That is marketing BS, maube catered to youngsters who cannot yet handle spicy food? It is something else than mustard, containing a little bit of mustard, like mayonaisse does. A chararacteristic element of mustard is the fact it is spicy. Therefore, mustard is always spicy. If they specifically mention spicy, it is very spicy.
As long as I get real mustard when it looks like it (mentions mustard), and its mentioned when its spicy (read: more than normal mustard), I am happy. When I get that acidic/sweet crap I am not happy. Its easy to recognize though. The color is lighter than the real deal, and the structure is very creamy.
I just buy local mustard, Zaanse and Groninger. But the structure isn't creamy and you need to mix them before grabbing content else you end up with an acidic leftover in the bottle.
One thing that I find surprising in France, is how little variety there is in mustard in most supermarkets. Basically you have a choice of dijon mustard from 20 different brands that all taste the same and then some "old fashioned" ones.
Mustard is made from seeds of the mustard plant, not all varieties of which are spicy.
> The color is lighter than the real deal, and the structure is very creamy.
Except that Bavarian sweet mustard is way darker than typical mustard, has a very rough texture, and still can hardly be described as spicy/hot.
Also texture isn't really a function of the type of mustard seeds used, but rather a function of the way it's produced.
[0] https://smakpol-doncaster.co.uk/110-thickbox_default/kamis-m...
My kin! I scoured the article for "whole grain" and "seed". Nothing. It's so good.
This is a whole grain mustard and imo far better than maille.
https://thepicklestore.com/product/maille-pickles-cornichons...
I feel like whenever I see a previously foreign brand show up on the shelves of Costco, I know they sold out to some billon dollar conglomerate and taste and quality are never the same, e.g. Galbani Mascarpone - used to be difficult to find and was imported from Italy. Now you can find it at large retailers, says "No 1 in Italia," at times it is plastered with the Italian flag and is usually made by Lactalis, its parent company, in your regional production facilities. You can taste the difference.
I still enjoy other types from time to time, east european, dijon with seeds etc. but Senf's mild taste allows me to appreciate meat flavors so much more and it pairs well with practically anything.
Now I prefer it to any other mustard, apart from making sauces paired with white fish.
Just want to clarify that "Senf" just means mustard and does not refer to a particular style.
https://www.kozliks.com/
Also I will check out karashi, thanks. Is it like wasabi where the traditional preparation is rare but there's a passable industrial simulation universally available?
https://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Seasoning-Paste-Plastic-Kara...
What I would give for a real Weisswurst, even in Portland basically impossible to find. There are a few attempts but nothing that comes close to a real Bavarian one.
1: https://www.continentalgourmetsausage.com/
Look a the recipe: 150 g of seeds of brown mustard, 10cl of vinegar, 30cl of water, 10g of salt
Nothing really fancy, even my son could do it.
The same applies to homemade mayonnaise, 10 times better than the industrial one.
In 99.9% of cases the answer is "no" and procuring ready-mixed mustard is more convenient, cheaper, less messy and time-saving.
Store bought mustard and mayonnaise contain such surprising ingredients like e.g. sugar or copious amounts of salt.
Also a little bit of sugar in mayonnaise is fine - in the US it usually relatively trace amounts to the most commonly sold ones in the Commonwealth.
You will probably also not be able to make at home anything all that similar to the mayonnaise you buy in a shop, though what you can make at home will almost certainly be equally as nice (my children were confused by the yellowish colour of home-made mayonnaise, which is sort of backwards since the confusing thing ought to be why shop-bought mayonnaise is white!).
https://food52.com/blog/22456-we-taste-tested-8-mayos-and-li...
In various parts of Europe there's a strong tradition of very geographically-specific types of mustard - often differing greatly in texture, strength, color and taste in neighboring towns or regions.
Also mustards can be seasonal - here in Sweden there are many mustards that are only available at Christmas, for instance - not to mention that people make their own mustards (also usually based on regional preferences).
I have a theory that desserts that are only on holidays really sort of suck or they would have broken out of the holiday and are just getting by on the nostalgia factor - how are these mustards you talk about?
Also can you name some of them? I guess I can always take the train over to Malmö in a couple of months to pick some up to test the quality myself.
on edit: fixed typo
But some of it I agree. Never learned to enjoy the traditional Norwegian food. Now it's "fårikål season", which is basically just lamb+cabbage boiled for far too long. Or "smalahove" where you eat the sheep's head. Christmas is the samme. Take ribs of the lamb and damp with salty water. Might be lamb I don't like, though.
If it’s Christmas mustard you’re hoping to find, simply search online for ‘julsenap’ before your visit.
Regional variations will more likely turn up at Christmas Markets (julmarknader), but even normal grocery stores will have more to choose from at that time of year.
An unusual tradition - a hangover from a time when people used mustard for its medicinal properties - is that chemists sell julsenap at Christmas.
There are literally dozens of varieties to choose from nowadays - some of them including unconventional flavorings and spices. Here’s one example (not a recommendation! I’ve never tried this - just googled julsenap and this was one) which includes chili and lemon: https://dellback.se/hovsenap-julsenap-chili-citron
https://www.swedishfood.com/swedish-food-recipes-starters/13...
Ikea generally sell mostly their own brands, at least here in Sweden.
My main exhibit for this is the Danish ris a la mande which is during Christmas, it tastes great to me (nostalgia) and Danes if told it's crap will defend it. But foreigners don't taste the goodness, and really if I think about it when eating I start to think: "you know, a tiramisu is better, so is risengrød for that matter, this stuff sort of sucks but I like it."
Ris a la mande also has a specific Christmas tradition associated with it (you have to feel with your mouth for the whole almond in it, and if you find it you get a gift) so doubling down on "it's not taste" explaining the love.
Many are originally seasonal for logistical reasons: before refrigeration, food had to be eaten close to harvest time or preserved in some way. So you have pumpkin dishes in fall because that's when the pumpkins are ripe. Likewise tomato dishes in spring.
Winter holiday foods often get that association because they are preserved. We ate them then because we had nothing else to eat since the harvest is over. That gives you eggnog, cured meat, jams, etc.
Once a dish gets a strong association with a certain time of year, I think it tends to hold it because the association is part of the enjoyment. Sure, I could have a mug of eggnog in June, but it wouldn't be as magical.
I have a counter-example.
I love peppermint stick ice cream, and it is impossible that anyone might not also love it. :-)
When I was a kid back it was one of the always-available flavors at the nearby ice cream shop. I don't know if was just luck or not, but now it seems peppermint stick is available only around Christmas, and even then I often have a hard time finding it.
People have time off on holidays, and families all get together increasing the available labor pool. Accordingly holiday foods can be more labor intensive than foods eaten during the rest of the year, which is an alternative explanation for why some foods only appear at holidays.
As another commenter mentioned, egg nog is one. Home made egg nog is a fair bit of work, doesn't keep for long (well depends on if you pre-mix the booze I guess), and is calorie dense enough that eating it year round would be a mistake.
Heck home made pies in general.
Also certain foods are a lot of work to get setup, but they scale up very well. It is just as much work to mull a little bit of wine as a lot of wine. Holiday cookies, kind of both. If you are rolling out cookie dough mine as well roll out a lot, and if you have lots of kids around, free labor to do the decoration!
As an aside, store bought eggnog is not good, if you don't like eggnog, try home made, you can adjust consistency, flavor profile, and sweetness dramatically. I never liked store eggnog, but on a whim I made it at home once and it turned out grand.
My personal favorite is the polish mustard with honey, sometimes I just eat plain bread with it if there's no pashtet around to go with it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julmust
It has a strong initial "kick" then the taste is pretty mild.
Like, English, French, German mustard taste and wasabi "sticks" for a longer time.
> Zakuson Gourmet Mustard
The actual name is "тещина горчица" = "mother-in-law mustard", it's not for the weak of heart indeed ;)
https://www.eater.com/2017/7/7/15926148/cleveland-brown-must...
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Mustard_Museum
[1] https://store.mustardmuseum.com/category/buy-mustards
In future I will be less snooty about "American mustard", which before reading this I had assumed was all like French's mustard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B48hQm5fIbU
I usually mix it up with fried rice. It's a weird habit I started in college.
Easy homemade mayo recipe which will taste 1000% better than storebought:
I will admit that I found it a bit amusing that this article appeared on the front page of HN with "Where Do Type Systems Come From". Clearly mustard type systems come from James Beard and now Jason Diamond.
Edited: remove "e" from previous "Col[e]man's. Please pardon me for opening a potential Mustard in the Middle (MItM) vector.
I have fought to the death and lost this duel, but Colman's will never die. Long live proper mustard! And habanero anything
https://foodmatch.com/products/listing/ingredients/ingredien...
https://mustardmuseum.com/poupon-u/
That's not as subtle.
The furthest away from Madison, WI that I've found it in a store, however, was in a Festival Foods in Eau Claire, WI. I'm not sure how wide in other places it can be found. Like, can you find it in Chicago? Or Minneapolis? Or Des Moines?
https://www.thetasteofgermany.com/mautner-austrian-hot-musta...
"The Onion" was started in Madison IIRC, which is where the Mustard Museum [1,2] is.
> The museum was conceived and founded by Barry Levenson, former Assistant Attorney General of Wisconsin. It centers on a mustard collection he began in 1986 while despondent over the failure of his favorite baseball team, the Boston Red Sox, to win the 1986 World Series.
[1] https://mustardmuseum.com/
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Mustard_Museum
Originally, mustard was made out of the mix of mustard grains and the juice of bordelais grapes. Since bordelais was quite sour, it was not of particular importance to wine production. Once phylloxera hit, winemakers started rescuing important grape varieties and lost all bordelais species.
Since mid-XIX century, mustard is made out of, well, mustard grains, vinegar and water.
[1] https://www.fallot.com/
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_French_Wine_Blight
Barry Levenson, curator and CMO — "chief mustard officer" — of the National Mustard Museum, says a fit of despair led him to create the museum in 1986.
"My beloved Boston Red Sox lost the World Series," he says. "Decided I need a hobby to get over my depression. That's the morning I began collecting jars of mustard."
And Levenson, a lawyer by trade, quickly saw his hobby turn into an obsession.
"I argued a case at the U.S. Supreme Court," he says. "On my way to the court, I saw this little jar of mustard on a discarded room-service tray. I didn't have time to go back to my room. So I brought it with me and argued — and I had a jar of mustard in my pocket."
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128823...