MOSTARDA
Mustard
First of all, what is mustard? It is a plant related to the cabbage and other cruciferous vegetables categorized under the family Brassicaceae. The seeds of this herbaceous plant is used in cooking, to produce edible oil, or crushed to make a paste. Some types of mustards are eaten as vegetables (leaves and roots). The three plants grown for their seed to make the condiment mustard are:
Sinapis alba L. 1753
White or yellow mustard (small plant, largish seeds) native to Europe, pungent and bitter in flavour.
Brassica nigra L. 1753
Black mustard (tall plant, smaller black or brown seeds) native to Europe, piquant flavour
Brassica juncea (L.) Czernajev, 1859
Brown mustard, also know as Indian or Chinese mustard (reddish brown to dark brown seeds) native to Asia, piquant flavour, and their leaves are consumed as vegetables mainly in India and China
Of the three, almost all commercially cultivated mustard seeds worldwide are from Brassica juncea and Sinapis alba. Brassica nigra grows very tall and the seeds tend to drop and therefore is considered inefficient for ideal mechanical cultivation. The names are somewhat misleading; what we call or know as black mustards seeds for recipes in cooking is actually Brassica juncea, and NOT B. nigra.
It has been a part of the most ancient Mediterranean civilisations. The Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans used it to spice up meat and fish dishes. They crushed the grains and mixed it into their food.
Moustard sede size (1)
Moustard sede size (2).
Even Jesus speack abou the mustard (although He was mistaken wtith the species, mustard IS not a tree, but a herbaceous plant. I do not read the Bible searching for scientific facts):
“The apostles said to the Lord,” we read in Luke’s Gospel, “increase our faith.” As usual, Jesus gives them a somehow unexpected answer. Like was a constant in his speach, He used a misterious methaphor. Far from instructing them in fundamental theology, handing them over a copy of the Catechism, or asking them for a bit of time to write a spiritual treatise, Jesus replies with a concise, striking image:
The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, Be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it would obey you.” (Esparza, 2019). Even the ancient people knew this seed was the smallest one.
It was the Romans who imported the custom of using table mustard to Gaul. Then later on, King Charlemagne recommended the cultivation of this spice throughout the realm as well as in the botanical gardens surrounding the monasteries in Parisian suburbs. Mustard cultivation gradually spread through Germany then to England.
In Northern Europe, it was believed that scattering a few mustard seeds around your house would ward away evil spirits…
Mustard appeared in Spain with the arrival of the Roman legions, then in India with Vasco de Gama.
Etymology
The origin of the word “mustard” comes from two Latin words “mustum ardens” which means “burning must” because in ancient times mustard was prepared with must (unfermented grape juice). This word then gave rise to the word "mustard" in English. Others claim that it came from the era of Duc Philippe le Téméraire, Duke of Burgundy, who in 1382 granted the town of Dijon with various privileges, in particular his personal coat of arms bearing his signet: “Moult me tarde” (I am impatient")… but this origin seems unlikely. This explanation proves one thing at least, that Dijon was already famous for its mustard by the 14th century.
In the city of Dijon there is a little-visited archaeological museum with rare treasures from the Celtic and Gallo-Roman world. the star attraction is a 2,000-year-old bronze statue of the Gallo-Roman goddess Sequama with the remains of what was once a vast healing temple at the source of the Seine River less than an hour’s drive away.
Even before the Romans came to rule over Gaul, pilgrims came from as far as the Mediterranean and what is now the English Channel to pray to her for a cure, consult the pagan priests, stay for a short visit, give thanks. They threw “ex votos,” or votive offerings, in wood, stone and bronze into a sacred healing pool.
In 1390, the manufacture of mustard became regulated and anybody producing a bad mustard was subject to heavy fines.
In cities, street traders, known as "criers" sold their mustard door-to-door under the name of "saulces et épices d'enfer " (sauces and spices of hell).
Apothecaries at the time were said to be making a fortune preparing a mixture made up of mustard seeds, ginger and mint for husbands to give to their wives to stimulate their libido. Two centuries later, the corporation of vinegar and mustard-makers of the town of Dijon was created. Their imaginative recipes are at the origins of the names for the various types of mustard still in use today.
The golden age of spices was the renaissance period, mustard was present at every banquet, even Rabelais was a keen amateur!
Over the centuries mustard became more and more synonymous with refinement and pleasure and it was at this time that fine and aromatic mustards began to appear. At the beginning of the 19th century, manufacturers entered into a race to rival each other's imaginations, creating many new recipes. They were greatly encouraged by the great gourmets such as Grimod de la Reynière, Carème, Brillat-Savarin or even Monselet.
Manufacturing techniques evolved with the industrial revolution. Traditional techniques were gradually displaced by mechanisation: machines were introduced to grind, sieve and crush the seeds.
Production developed very quickly from manufacturing workshop to factory. In the 20th century, regulations became increasingly strict, and the decree of 1937 set out conditions for manufacturing and naming mustards. A regulation completed and signed in July 2000 specifies these names.
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Bibliografia
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