Mustard

I love mustard. It's probably my favorite condiment. I use it on sandwiches with any kind of meat. I have used it as a base for a sauce to serve with wild game , and I use mustard powder as an ingredient for my own brisket and pork rub and in a cherry barbecue sauce that I occasionally make. It adds a whole dimension of flavor to balance out any slightly sweet ingredients.

My wife made some mustard a couple months ago and it is delicious. It has a spicy vinegar finish with strong mustard base that almost has me using it like peanut butter which I also love. Her mustard initially was a full-grain, lightly ground spread that looked a lot like the Maille Old Style or the Inglehoffer in the first panel of brands. Very coarse and lightly ground. It was so coarse that I found that the grains frequently formed large balls and rolled off of the bread. The only way to prevent the loss of so much mustard was to use an airy break like sourdough, which I also love, to trap the seeds.

After we had used her whole grain mustard for a while we decided it best to grind it further so that it is easier to layer it in durable layers. Right now it is pretty much the world's most perfect mustard. It isn't as finely ground as the Kosciusko Spicy Brown or the Mister Mustard Original Hot. It looks more like the Batampte Deli Style or the Woeber's varieties. It still has many seeds that have escaped the grinder but they are now firmly trapped in a delicious mush of mustard-yellow paste so that they don't get lost on the plate.

I think it is the world's most perfect mustard now.

Thanks for this article. I think I'm gonna smoke some chipotle, or andouille, or hot Italian sausage or maybe all of those so I have an appropriate meat vehicle to allow the mustard to shine, maybe on a medium dark toasted pretzel bun for the added bread caramelization.

As long as it is not English mustard, which is pure violence and no nuance to it.

French Dijon mustard is the safest bet. I quite like the American ones I can find in Britain because they're more mellow so a bit more versatile. Not sure about Indian mustard sauces, but they certainly use a lot of mustard seeds.

I can't help but think of this Onion article:

https://www.theonion.com/man-on-internet-almost-falls-into-w...

It kind of blows my mind that most people around me eat steak without a good Maille or Grey Poupon mustard. Thanks for this list, I'm gonna explore!

"Now that I know so many of the legacy brands are French, the fact that French’s is called “French’s” and describes itself as “American flavor in a bottle” is kind of funny (and American)."

According to McCormick's (owner of French's Mustard brand) website:

"George and Francis French, sons of R.T. French introduced French’s Classic Yellow Mustard, served over hot dogs at the St. Louis World’s Fair."

https://www.mccormick.com/frenchs/story

So, named for the creators in 1904, not for a specific association with the country.