I used to think you could gauge a nation’s respect for mustard by considering which varieties were made available in the little packets on cafe tables. I later decided that all mustards have their charms, even that oddly dark one that passes for French mustard outside France. I also maintain a fondness for super-yellow American. It is not my favourite, but sometimes nothing else will do. The only bad mustard countries, I think, are the ones where you have to ask for it.
There are as many recipes for mustard as there are variations of the stuff. I am going to include just one, for homemade dijon mustard, so you can get your head around what a thankless pain in the backside it is. Everyone should try making mustard once – and only once. Here is a video showing exactly how proper mustard should be made – in a giant factory by machines. Should you get another urge to produce mustard from scratch, watch this.
Even good jarred mustard loses its sting after a while – it will keep for up to a year, but will become less potent over time. For that reason, it is best to buy it in normal-sized jars on a regular basis and – although I know people have strong views on this – keep it in the fridge once it is open.
Combined with a few other ingredients, mustard the condiment is easily transformed into mustard the sauce. This basic version – using English mustard, chopped shallots, white wine, brown sugar and creme fraiche – goes well with most roasted meats. The eulogised confit potatoes served at the Quality Chop House in central London rely on a simple emulsified dressing of oil, lemon, dijon mustard and cider vinegar.
The cookery writer Georgina Hayden mixes English mustard with Greek yoghurt, mayonnaise and honey to recreate the pork souvlaki accompaniment she remembers from her grandparents’ restaurant. Meanwhile, this sauce for barbecued ribs uses apple juice and dijon and Chinese mustards.
Mustard is one of those rare condiments that stands up to cooking. Anna Jones’s seeded sweet leek and mustard rolls are sort of vegan sausage rolls, perfect for a picnic or, at this time of year, in bed with the telly on.
For a delicious one-pan supper, try Yasmin Fahr’s charred lemon and mustard parmesan chicken, which has a very high satisfaction-to-washing-up ratio, especially if you can persuade your family to eat it straight from the roasting tray.
Yotam Ottolenghi’s version of homemade mustard (fine – try it again, but don’t say I didn’t warn you) provides a soothing but still spiky sauce for his chicken and gherkin fricassee. (Thankfully, shop-bought dijon works just as well.) Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall uses dijon in much the same way, only with rabbit. For Nigel Slater’s tempting fast-food supper paprika mustard chicken goujons, the dijon mustard is used as an undercoat, where you might normally employ a beaten egg, before the breadcrumbs and a spot of shallow frying.
When it comes to pairing mustard with vegetables, it is hard to beat the Guardian reader Cookathope’s recipe for roasted cauliflower with anchovy mustard. It uses grainy and dijon mustard, as does Slater’s fondant pumpkin with mustard sauce. Mustard-crusted new potatoes are a livelier take on a sometimes dispiritingly plain side dish – potatoes are boiled, then tossed with mustard, sliced onion and oil and roasted until crusty.
With seafood, mustard seed is a more common ingredient than mustard itself, but it is not unheard of. For these mustard and honey-glazed deep-fried prawns, from a recipe by the Guardian reader Fadmie Tiskaya, a mixture of mustard, honey, lemon and chilli is divided evenly: half for a batter with egg yolk and cornflour, the other half for serving as a dipping sauce. Mustard salmon is marinated in honey and orange juice before baking, while Rosie Sykes’s grilled mustard haddock uses mustard seed and dijon. The overnight marinade – with thyme, garlic, shallots and cider vinegar – works equally well for rabbit, chicken and pork. You may never need another recipe.
It so happens that the list of whisky recipes from a couple of weeks ago included an unlikely but exquisite cocktail made with English mustard. We don’t want to repeat ourselves, so here is another: mustard punch. This formulation contains gin, peach brandy, honey, lime juice and a dash of dijon – a quarter of a teaspoon, it says, but this is a matter of preference; some may like it hotter. If you are in the habit of stealing mustard packets from cafes, they might come in handy for this.
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