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dustintrex

Not a bad survey of American mustard, but still missing several entire classes of mustard:

* 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).

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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.

Marvellous stuff.

It puts the "mustard" in "mustard gas" :D

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').

Colman's is mentioned.

"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."

he shared a link to buy colman's on amazon. It was in a plastic squeezy container!!

The guy is not fit to write about mustard.

You can't have good mustard in plastic nor bad ones in glass? You must be extremely sensitive to marketing efforts ;)

What about "Don't judge a book by its cover"?

He's right in this case. The regular glass jars do not have vinegar; the squeeze bottles do.

Ok, I stand corrected, forgive me my ignorance.

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.

How do you use the powder? I've used it when cooking a larger dish but I can't imagine using it like a table condiment.

You mix it with water (and optionally vinegar).

Or traditionally ale. Cider is nice too.

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.

100% agree. Ketchup in a bacon sandwich is pure evil, and I've never been sure why bacon is even sold unsmoked.

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

This is why I'm glad to be an American. I think.

>>He mentioned that he’s also a fan of spicy mustard on his eggroll, and wondered had I tried Colman’s (12).

> I'd also like to add English mustard to that list, most notably the Colmans's brand.

This is in the article

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(?).

Is there a better brand for an "everyday" mustard in that style?

Ah, the American Dream. I can buy mustard for my burger and shampoo for my hair from the same company.

Just don't mix the two up.

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.

>mustard seeds left in. Maille's version is my go-to.

My kin! I scoured the article for "whole grain" and "seed". Nothing. It's so good.

I really enjoy even the supermarket own brand whole grain mustards.

> 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.

There is 'grainy', but I'm not sure if that means whole seeds.

OT: Maille's gherkins with caramelized onions are to die for.

https://thepicklestore.com/product/maille-pickles-cornichons...

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

[0] https://smakpol-doncaster.co.uk/110-thickbox_default/kamis-m...

I can definitely endorse Babci mustards as well for having a nice balance of flavour and kick.

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.

https://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Seasoning-Paste-Plastic-Kara...

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.

> Senf's mild taste

Just want to clarify that "Senf" just means mustard and does not refer to a particular style.

> * 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.

1: https://www.continentalgourmetsausage.com/

If you like grainy mustard, I can’t recommend Kozliks’ Triple Crunch enough:

https://www.kozliks.com/

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.

He should try Russian mustard, not sure if he could by it locally. That would clean his nose

The Moutarde de Meaux mentioned in the article has mustard seeds in it.

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.

> A chararacteristic element of mustard is the fact it is spicy.

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.

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