Happy National Mustard Day

Please thank fine art daily for letting me know there was such a day designed especially for mustard and mustard lovers.

When I think of mustard and how I enjoy it, Dutch Mustard soup comes to my mind – a creamy soup flavoured with dollops of peppery wholegrain mustard from the north of Holland, tamed somewhat by creme fraiche. In fact, my first ever blog post on KB featured this very soup.

National Mustard Day is an annual event held on the first Saturday in August. It was created by the National Mustard Museum in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. Since I can’t head over to the US today, I’m celebrating and opening ‘aged’ jars of mustard, purchased in Paris and in my possession since 2009.

One I got for the bucket it came in;

And the other caught my fancy with its fruity flavours.

Before then, all I knew of was plain ole mustard but apparently, that’s old school.

An article in the Independent by Geraldene Holt, titled ‘Food & Drink: Why we’re so keen on flavoured mustards’, dissects the elements of the condiment, from historical times in France to modern day Britain. She goes on to enlighten us, me, you about the variations in mustard flavours, all dependent on the kind of mustard seed employed in the making.  She even lets us know that we can make our own mustard, simply by softening the seed in vinegar or water for 24 hours, then mixing to a paste in a food processor with herbs or spices. Fancy that.

In Nigeria, we don’t have mustard as an obligatory item on the dinner table, but everywhere else I’ve lived, it shows up. In the UK – Colman’s trademark yellow jars were ever present, smeared on sarnies with cold cuts and soft bread, bringing alive even the dullest ‘layered stories’ of bread. In the Netherlands, we’ve enjoyed laden spoonfuls in the autumn, when days are cold and nights are freezing, and the Dutch embrace stampot’, a ‘hodgepodge of potatoes, meat and leafy veggies like kale. The combination of dinner ingredients is simmered till soft, roughly mashed and perfection is when a wooden spoon can stand at attention with neither slop nor slip. Mustard breathes fire into the comfort of this dish, lacing it with warmth and spice.

Whatever you do today, enjoy your the National Mustard Day which you are celebrating, right???????

Share your mustard tips and recipes please.

Have a great weekend.[wpurp-searchable-recipe]Happy National Mustard Day – – – [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]