Who doesn’t love mustard, be it yellow or brown, in a hot dog, a sandwich, or even mixed in a casserole, salad dressing, or appetizer? We love our seasonings and, second only to ketchup, no one loves mustard more than Americans. It is practically a national institution (along with the hot dog). During the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904, a small company called French’s introduced their yellow mustard into hot dogs and the popularity skyrocketed.
There are more than 40 species of mustard plants, and each of their seeds offers a slightly different flavor and color to create many varieties of mustard. Add in other tasty toppings, like blueberries, horseradish, hot peppers, or honey, and the seasoning aficionado might have a veritable closet full of delicious mustards to try.
In the Bible, the mustard seed is used in the book of Matthew as a parable, where Jesus teaches that one only needs to have the faith of a mustard seed (humble) to move mountains. For Christians, it has been a symbol of faith since the New Testament.
Royal seasoning, in a way, dates back to the early Romans, when it was ground from seeds and mixed with juice into a paste, similar to the prepared mustards we use today. The name is derived from “mustum” (from Latin meaning “burning must”, which was the practice of using the juice of young grapes to form a paste). Mustard as a spice was popular in Europe long before the ancient Asian spice trade, and grape-loving Romans planted it in their vineyards alongside the vines. The country of France embraced it when many brothers from French monasteries cultivated, prepared and sold mustard as early as the 9th century and it dates back to the shops of Paris in the 13th century.
Two enterprising Frenchmen by the names of Maurice Gray and Antoine Poupon created one of the most popular mustards in the world, Gray Poupon Dijon, in the 1770s. They discovered that adding white wine to their particular recipe resulted in a totally different and pleasant taste. . His original store still exists in the city of Dijon. Who can forget the classic TV commercial in which two limousines pull up side by side, and a very suitable and obviously wealthy passenger calls out the window asking if the other limousine has any Gray Poupons on board?
Across the pond, in 1866, a Briton named Jeremiah Colman, founder of the recognizable brand Colman’s Mustard of England, was appointed Queen Victoria’s official mustard manufacturer. Colman pioneered the same crushing technique used today, which pulverizes the seeds into a fine powder in a way that protects the flavorful oils from escaping. In many British pubs, you can see a pot of spicy mustard on every table, which, when a small amount is placed on the tongue, is supposed to create thirst before ordering your favorite ale or beer.
Even Pope John XII was such a fan of mustard that, like Queen Victoria, he named a young man after the Pope’s Great Mustard Maker. He just turned out to be the Pope’s nephew, who resided in the Dijon region of France.
Like so many other words in the English language, mustard has other unrelated meanings, such as “cut mustard” or “mustard gas”, a lethal weapon during World War I and World War II. In Ireland, referring to someone as “mustard” can mean a bad temper.
Regardless of your preferences (make my Gray Poupon please), there are hundreds of mustards to choose from. If you can’t get enough of it, you can visit the National Mustard Museum in Middleton, Wisconsin, where more than 5,500 mustards are on display, and you can sample many of them at the tasting bar. And of course, there are hundreds of beloved mustards for sale, so you won’t leave empty-handed.