If I were to do a word-association with the word “mustard”, I would come up with an impressive list: birthday parties and baseball games; egg rolls and Caesar salads; foot baths and mustard plasters; street ministries and acupuncture.

Mustard is one of the oldest condiments known to man; pre-dating even ketchup. This huge family of herbs from the cabbage family was native to most of the Old World, but today can be found growing on every continent.

Of the multitude of mustard varieties, many are grown solely for their nutritious greens. The Chinese are large consumers of the dark, green leaves, and in the Southern States, mustard greens are right up there with collard greens.

There are three main varieties that are cultivated for their seed: nigra, the black seed; alba, the white/yellow seed; and juncea, the brown or Chinese mustard seed.

Mustard seeds contain chemicals that, when mixed with water, form a pungent oil that is so hot, it can cause skin burns. This chemical reaction takes about 30’ to reach its peak and then begins to break down. The addition of an acid such as vinegar or wine slows the inevitable break-down of the hot and flavourful oil.

 In its most simple form, such as the Romans would have used, mustard was made from crushed mustard seeds and must, or newly fermented grape juice. The word “mustard” comes from the words “mouste” (the must) and “ardent” (hot).

Of the three varieties of seeds, black is the strongest and considered the most flavourful. It is, however, difficult to harvest commercially, and is now largely substituted with the brown seed, also strong and flavourful. The white seed is the blandest of the three.

The term “prepared” mustard simply means “made”. There are hundreds of prepared mustards available commercially. The heat of a prepared mustard depends upon the seeds used, whether the seeds are ground or only crushed with the hull left on (the inside of the seed is where the heat lies; the more hull left on, the milder) and any additives like horseradish or chillies.

The hottest of these are generally Chinese, as anyone who has gone to a Cantonese restaurant and stuck their egg roll naively into the dish of brownish mustard knows.

The French take their mustards very seriously, like their wines and cheeses, and the names and methods are controlled. Dijon mustard is made from brown and black (when available) seeds and wine. The distinctive, smooth flavour of Grey Poupon, developed by a man named Grey and probably the most familiar of the Dijon mustards, is due to the addition of verjuice or soured grape juice, rather than vinegar.

The French also make ancient or meaux mustards, prepared from un-milled and crushed seeds. These mustards are generally mild and sold in quaint stoneware jars.  

German mustards tend to be bold and hearty; often made with honey and beer, using a mixture of white and brown seed. German sausages with mustard are the infamous predecessors of our hotdogs and mustard.

It was the English (a woman, actually) who invented the method of making a powder from the mustard seed. Before this time, mustard was sold as a ball made from ground seed, flour, and vinegar. The seeds had to be treated in such a way that they didn’t form an oily meal when ground. Once this method was developed, two well-known British companies, Keen and Colman, began marketing their own special brands of powdered mustard. British mustard, made from white and brown seed, tends to be hot. (I can still feel that mustard plaster!)

The French may have had the Greys, and the English their Keens and Colmans; the North Americans had the Frenches. Yes, French’s mustard was named after its creator. Before that, the turmeric yellow, sweet and vinegary goop we associate with hotdogs and stained white t-shirts, was known only as ballpark mustard.

I am proof that Canadians are not just yellow mustard rubes. I have at least 8 jars of mustard in my fridge, and only one (two if you count the organic yellow) is of the French’s ilk. The others are a variety of whole grain, organic, and flavoured, either commercial or island made by Auld Alliance Farms, with ingredients such as cranberries, ginger, tarragon, lavender, honey, beer, cider vinegar, maple syrup, horseradish, jalapeno, basil, mint, papaya, chillies, ….the list is endless.

You can make your own mustard directly from the seed, from a powder, or a combination of both. It is always important to first mix the powder with water and let it develop at least 15 minutes before adding it to the recipe.

I use my odds and ends of prepared mustards to marinate roasts; either as a rub or mixed with liquid ingredients. Adding a spoonful to any soup or stew can’t hurt either.

Mustard has many commercial applications, and Canada is now a major producer of white mustard used in industry. Mustards seeds left whole are an important flavouring for pickles, but they also have preservative properties. Mustard is not only added to salad dressings and sauces like mayonnaise and hollandaise juice for its flavour; it is added because it is an emulsifier and stabilizes these suspensions and it is used extensively in the meat packing industry to improve the texture of processed meats such as bologna and hot dogs.

 Isn’t there some sort of cosmic balance in that?