AS KEEN AS MUSTARD

Why bother? Learn about the history, and how to make it

This time of the year is often referred to as The Hunger Months which perfectly describes the natural state of affairs. Very little left in the garden to harvest - some Winter cabbage, leeks, some parsnips perhaps - most of us by now will be relying on our stores. This is when pressure canned goods really come into their own for hearty soups and casseroles straight from the jar with some back up from the freezer perhaps.

The marmalade making is almost done and the keen preserver is suppressing a nervous twitch and a compulsion to buy out-of-season produce just to have something to make. Relax - the Wild Garlic will soon be poking through but in the meantime I have a suggestion, how about making some wholegrain mustard? Its easy, its cheap and it keeps forever. Tick, tick and tick.

You can make a whole variety of different flavours, start matching your mustard to the main ingredients in your food - make now for gifting throughout the year and for Christmas hampers. Even the crustiest and cantankerous old uncle will be delighted with a jar or two of your homemade. If you are an artisan producer what a string to your bow. Make a selection, great for packaging together in gift boxes, learn what they are great to go with - share your knowledge with customers. The customers that seek you out to buy mustard will probably like some marmalade too - and some jam . . . .

Strictly speaking, wholegrain mustard is a condiment made from a combination of seeds, both yellow and brown/black, and any number of other ingredients, including the preservatives, vinegar, sugar and salt. However,that description doesn’t really do justice to the complexity of flavours that develop and the depth of the pungency.

Wholegrain mustard as we know it was almost certainly brought to these shores by the Romans although their sophisticated approach far outweighs the remnant we produce today. With upwards of twenty five ingredients the seeds and spices were mixed with red wine must to form a paste which was rolled into balls and dried in the sun. These power-packed mustard balls would be carried by the individual in a leather pouch and then crumbled and sprinkled onto food or mixed with the red wine must again to form a paste.

As well as leaving a legacy on their travels through France, which ultimately led to the development of the mustard industry in Dijon, the Romans also deposited their expertise in Tewkesbury in UK which is still renowned for mustard today. Part of its appeal in Northern Europe was, of course, that it could be grown locally, when all other spices had to be shipped from the West Indies or beyond.

It is a cool season broadleaf crop, with bright yellow flowers and is often mistaken for oil-seed rape- all of those yellow fields in the Summer. The majority of the modern UK crop is grown in across the area of The Midlands in the UK and most of it goes straight into commercial production. Sadly this means that the seed available to buy in the UK is all imported which is the kind of madness we have become accustomed to. Although popular as a rotation crop as it enhances the yields of wheat and barley, it is also useful to break the disease cycles in cereal crops. Come on British farmers get some seed for sale for us preservers then we can happily make a completely British traditional preserve!

Now for the scientific bit - it turns out that as well as all of those other benefits mustard is also very nutritious. It contains between 28-36% protein, and its oil also makes up 38-36% of the seed and is as nutritious as other similar vegetable oils. It contains something called Tocopherols which helps to prevent rancidity which means mustard has a long shelf life.

Mustard oils are the characteristic flavour of mustard whether whole seed, ground seed, or mustard flour. The essential oils naturally inhibit the growth of the main spoilers - yeasts, moulds and bacteria which explains the powerful preservative properties of mustard. Every time I make it I am astonished all over again that it keeps indefinitely without cooking and without refrigeration.

Now let us take a look at some of the history of mustard ( you can just skip to the recipe if you like - I won't mind )

The earliest Roman cookbook Apicious dating from the late 4th or early 5th century lists the ingredients for ‘mustum ardens’ or ‘burning must’ (must ard) as the following:-

Mustard seeds, pepper, caraway seed, lovage, grilled coriander seeds, dill, celery, thyme, oregano, onion, honey, vinegar, fish sauce, and then mixed with oil. Typically this would be used as a glaze for spit roasted meat.

By the 10th century the Romans had carried their expertise to Gaul and the monks of St Germain des Pres in Paris learnt their skills and started to produce their own recipes. The earliest mention of mustard makers to the Royal Court in Paris is 1292. The town of Dijon became the centre for all things mustard, in the 13th century, and it remains so today. In 1336 there are records of a gala held by the Duke of Burgundy where the guests consumed 70 gallons of mustard creme in a single sitting.

C. Anne Wilson lists in her book Food and Drink in Britain, figures for a 15th century English household for a year as follows:-
3/4lb saffron; 3lbs cinnamon; 11/4lb each of cloves and mace; 21/2lbs ginger;
84lbs mustard seed

Being locally grown, it was much much cheaper than imported spices and this is reflected in these figures.

By 1777 the famous Dijon partnership of Grey-Poupon was established. Maurice Grey was the mustard maker par excellence with his own unique recipe using white wine, and his financial backer, Auguste Poupon. They also had the assistance of the world’s first automatic mustard making machine. It took until 1937 for Dijon mustard to be granted the Apellation d’origine controlee and it is regarded today as being the mustard capital of the world - unless you live in Tewkesbury of course!

Mustard Making in Tewkesbury

A 17th C traveller once wrote of Tewkesbury: “Mustard off this place is much spoken off, Made upp in balles as bigge as henns eggs, att 3d and 4d each, allthough a Farthing worth off the ordinary sort will give better content in my opinion, this beeing in sight and tast Much like the old dried thicke scurffe thatt sticks by the sides off a Mustard pott . . . “ Taken from the Travels of Peter Mundy in Europe and Asia 1608-1667

A cannon ball - also referred to as a mustard ball - was sometimes used a grinding stone, and few homes in the area at the time were without a ‘cannon-bullet’ and bowl to grind the seeds into a powder - which could take up to an hour! “He looks as if he had livedon Tewkesbury Mustard” was an old English proverb. The mustard balls made here, so proper for clearing the head “tis very biting, and therefore has occasion’d this Proverbfor a Sharp Fellow . . . “ (Magna, 1720)

The mustard balls at this time were made from a local wild mustard, and the powdered seeds were moistened and formed into balls and then dried. To make up ready for use they were mixed with wine, vinegar, apple juice, cider or maybe buttermilk. The sound of all this grinding - often thundering cannon balls in iron bowls gave the whole process a air of menace but in 1720 a lady named Mrs Clements perfected a whole new process taking the coarse wholegrain mustard to a different level. Using a method which she kept a secret to her deathbed, she produced a fine yellow powder and soon became famous as a result.

Although she did not divulge her secret method, after her death, in 1742, Messrs Keens of Garlick Hill, London managed to emulate her success. This may be where the saying ‘as keen as mustard’ comes from. In 1814, along comes a young miller from Norfolk called Jeremiah Colman who took up the baton and became the most famous name in English mustard to the present day. He set up a factory with banks of pestles and mortars to grind the seed, on a level of production not seen before. He then sieved the mustard flour through fine silk sieves to achieve the very fine powder we are all familiar with. Nevertheless, wholegrain mustards are making a comeback with their more delicate, pungent flavours.

Recipes through the Ages

42AD Columella, De re rusticaClean the mustard seed carefully and sift, then wash in cold water and when well washed leave for two hours in the water. Then remove, press it with your hands and put in a new or thoroughly cleansed mortar, and pound it with a pestle. When it is pounded, put the mash into the middle of the mortar and compress it with the flat of your hand. Next, when you have pressed it, scarify it and after having placed a few glowing coals on it, pour water mixed with cooking soda on it, in order to remove all bitterness and paleness. Immediately after, lift the mortar so that all the moisture may be drained away. After this add strong wine vinegar, mix with the pestle and strain. The juice is very good to strain turnips. If, by the way, you want to prepare mustard for use at the table, when you have squeezed it out add pine-kernels which should be as fresh as possible and almonds, pound carefully and pour vinegar on . . .This mustard is not only suitable as a sauce, but is even good to look at, for it is of extreme whiteness when made carefully.

1395 Le Managier de Paris (translated by Janet Hinson)If you wish to provide for keeping mustard a long time do it at wine-harvest in sweet must. And some say that the must should be boiled. Item, if you want to make mustard hastily in a village, grind some mustard-seed in a mortar and soak in vinegar, and strain; and if you want to make it ready the sooner, put it in a pot in front of the fire. Item, and if you wish to make it properly and at leisure, put the mustard-seed to soak overnight in good vinegar, then have it ground fine in a mill, and then little by little moisten it with good vinegar: and if you have some spices left over from making jelly, broth, hippocras or sauces, they may be ground up with it, and then leave it until it is ready.

1465 Platina’s De Honesta Voluptate et ValetudineOn Right Pleasure and Good Health (translated by Milham)We also use it in dishes, and there are three types of it: one slender, another like the leaves of rape, and another like rocket seed. The best grows in Egypt with no cultivation; however, an imported plant grows better. Pythagoras gave mustard a high place because of its strength, since nothing else penetrates more into the nostrils and brain. It is thought to dispel poisons of snakes and mushrooms on account of its warm dry force. It is considered very useful to the stomach, drives out ills in the lungs, lightens a chronic cough, makes spitting easy, is given in food to those who are gasping, purges senses and head from sneezes. Softens the bowels, stimulates menstruation and urine, and cuts phlegm. When smeared on an ailment of the body, it shows the force of its burning.

1669 The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digby Take of the best Mustard-Seed ( which is black) a quart. Dry it gently in the Oven, and beat it to a subtle powder, and searse it. Then mingle well strong wine-venegar with it, so much that it be pretty liquid, for it will dry with keeping. Put to this a little Pepper beaten small (white is the best) at discretion, as about a good pugil, and put a good spoonful of Sugar to it (which is not to make it taste sweet, but rather quick, and to help fermentation) lay a good Onion in the bottom, quartered if you will, and a race of Ginger, scraped and bruised; and stir it often with an Horseradish root cleansed, which let always lie in the pot till it have lost its virtue, then take a new one. This will keep long, and grow better for a while. It is not good until after a month, that it hath fermented a while.

1827 To Prepare Mustard for Sea-StoreTaken from Domestic Economy and Cookery, for Rich and Poor, by a lady, LondonKiln-dry the seed, to destroy the germ, steep it in spirits, and dry it again. Pack it with pepper, from which it can be easily sifted. Or, pack raisins or a few currants along with it. So prepared, it will keep any length of time in pure sugar.(That’s clear and simple then!)

1913 Published by Harry Roberts from The Still Room by Mrs Charles RoundellTo make Jesuits’ MustardThoroughly mix ten sardines, a quarter of a pound of ground brown mustard, three-quarters of a pound of ground white mustard, and two hundred capers. Make into a paste with about a quart of boiling vinegar.

My Recipe for Wholegrain Mustard

Start the day before

200g/7oz yellow mustard seeds
200g/7oz black mustard seeds
1 bottle of beer of your choice around 500ml
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground nutmeg
6 tablespoon runny honey
170ml/6floz Cider vinegar

Makes approx. 5-6 200g/8oz jars

Mix the mustard seeds together in a large bowl

Pour over the beer, cover the bowl with a plate and leave overnight to soak

Wash your jars in warm soapy water, rinse and then put upside down on your

oven shelf to dry at 50-100C

Next day, add all of the remaining ingredients and stir to mix

Process your mix in a blender in small batches. Add each batch to a large bowl
so that they can all be mixed together at the end to make one even batch

Remove the jars from the oven and when cool enough to handle with bare hands start adding the mustard to the jars. Great care should be taken to remove any air pockets as you fill. The best way to do this is to use a round ended dinner knife or a chopstick and just break up any pockets before sealing the jar. Fill the jars right to the top before putting on the lid.

Mature for two weeks before using and use within one year - no refrigeration is needed at any stage. Delicious mixed with melted butter and a squeeze of lemon juice - pour over hot new potatoes and enjoy for lunch with a green salad

Resources

https://recipes.rosiemakesjam.com/search/preserve-type/mustards

https://www.lovejars.co.uk/rosies-preserving-school/library/tag/mustard

https://www.lovejars.co.uk/shop/catalogue/books-publications/rosies-book-of-mustard-recipes/