Food Loves French's TV ad:
...and the behind the scenes dating club introduction Webisode:
Mustard: One of the least offensive, to us un-refined folk, in your arsenal of refrigerator door condiments. Great ad campaign by French's... your food loves it, and so should you. Put the onus on your food... is it guilting you for not using French's yet, do you "feel" the peer-pressure mounting?
Read all about the history of French's Golden at their website. But where did the French family(who are really New Yorkers, not French anymore) get their knowledge of mustard-making? Wikipedia has an even more interesting history of mustard all the way back to ancient Roman culinary skills.
It was from the Romans that the Gauls were introduced to the wonderfully pungent concoction, and over the next several hundred years perfected its production until a couple of fellows in Dijon, France around 1777 named Maurice Grey and Auguste Poupon got together and shared recipe (Grey) with bank account (Poupon) and VIOLA! they created the world's best condiment.
The folks in Dijon take the production of their mustard very seriously, which is why the quality of their mustard has such worldwide notoriety, it's too bad we don't have this kind of loyalty to our food agriculture in the US, from the one's producing or the one's consuming.
From "The Perfect Pantry" blog:
Except for the nebulous "spices" and "natural flavorings", the ingredient list on a bottle of plain French's Golden Mustard is very un-alarming.
Anyone worried about the un-natural bright yellow color of plain mustard can go straight to turmeric in the ingredients list as the culprit. What is turmeric? It is a member of the ginger family and has a very bright orange colored root, that is oven dried and ground into a fine bright yellow powder. Turmeric is used as a substitute for saffron, which is a much more expensive spice. The flavor it imparts is a very subtle one, unlike ginger, somewhat bitter and peppery which comes from the active ingredient curcumin.
Therefore, the color of French's Golden Mustard is very natural. And if you believe the results of this 1998 University of Texas research study: "Mechanisms of anticarcinogenic properties of curcumin: the effect of curcumin on glutathione linked detoxification enzymes in rat liver", turmeric has anti-carcinogenic properties that make it something you want to ADD to your diet.
Looking at some YouTube videos for making homemade mustard...
The Howcast version:
In The Mood For Food version:
Someone should explain to Chef Kev that there is a reason Mustard Gas is a very effective weapon.
Seriously, when you break apart the mustard seeds, they release an enzyme called myrosinase, which comes into contact with sinigrin (a glucosinolate) contained in the plant tissue vacoules. The combination of these two produces a substance called allyl isothiocyanate, (AITC) which is responsible for the heat you experience from mustard, wasabi and horseradish. It is toxic in large enough doses, so don't play around.
No, you aren't making weapons-grade mustard gas, but anything with cyano- in the name... isn't for play time. We all are familiar with the effects of cyanide and the "don't drink the kool-aid" meme. Fortunately in this particular chemical form, AITC has some beneficial attributes by inhibiting the proliferation of prostate cancer cells in this 2003 study at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.
Guys... eat your mustard, wasabi and horse radish religiously, that's all I'm sayin'...
Moving on, I really had a hard time finding three videos of homemade mustard... I guess if honey-mustard salad dressing was acceptable I could have included Mr Salad Dressing's offering, but he used a store-bought mustard preparation, which kind of defeats our purpose here.
Ran across the Monastery Mustard video and although they don't show how their mustard is made from scratch, it is a nice video. Even though I am not the "monastic" type, I do share a common goal (or "ministry" in their words) of helping provide people with healthier food options, to nourish their bodies with eco-friendly food products.
I appreciate what these "old gals" are doing, their community is richer from their efforts. We all need local food purveyors of this quality in our area.
Monastery Mustard - Cooking Up A Story:
The problem of mustard when we add industrial food production into the equation, is one of exponential growth of market choices for the consumer. Hundred years ago we had one choice, now we look at the condiment aisle of a modern mega-market grocery store and there are dozens of options.
All I need is one good mustard... and I can add honey or stone-ground mustard seed, or tarragon myself depending on my palate cravings and momentary whims. But since the marketplace has become saturated with product choices in every nook and cranny of the food industry... then I have to be a vigilant label-reader. And if you have to do this down every single aisle.... you'll spend all day reading... bring a sleeping bag, it may take a few days.
It's overwhelming...
Advice straight from Michael Pollan.... if you are reading a food label and any of the first five ingredients is un-pronounceable or foreign to you, then put it down. You really don't need it.
French's Mustard isn't in violation of this rule, but in the interest of sharing my refrigerator contents with the world, I thought I'd share one of my own "lapses in good judgement". Turns out I have broken this rule without even knowing it. As a "flavor-whore", I love stronger mustards like Cajun, Chinese mustard etc.
As a matter of coming clean about my addiction: there are three different bottles of mustard in my fridge and at the drop of a hat any one of them could be mixed with honey, vinegar & oil, cream or wine to produce a sauce for pork or dressing for salad. A very versatile thing to have around.
Zatarain's (you pronounce that anyway you please) makes a Cajun mustard. The first 4 ingredients are pretty straightforward:
Water, Distilled Vinegar, Ground Mustard Seed and Salt.
So far so good.
Ingredient #5 -- Propylene Glycol Alginate.
What?
The Straight Dope dealt with this topic rather humorously.
PubMed handled it a little more seriously.
So PGA comes from kelp and has been used in the food industry a long time without much cause for concern, no Dow Chemical-like body count from mass poisoning. It just sounds too much like car anti-freeze, which is poisonous and apparently tastes good to dogs.
I just want to know why we aren't isolating natural thickeners, like the glycosylates in okra mucilage, for example... and use them in place of other substances like PGA or xanthum gum for viscosity. We are studying these natural compounds for medical uses, why not industrial food uses?
Well, I bought this Creole Mustard and will have to find something to use it on, probably ham or turkey sandwiches. But I don't plan on buying this brand of mustard again. I'll stick to Dijon or stone-ground mustard without PGA.
The Un-Refined Chef Homemade Mustard recipe:
You've watched the two videos up front, and here's a good basic mustard: From the Good Eats episode: Pretzel Logic, Alton Brown shares a recipe for homemade mustard. It looks like Alton's version is a good way to recycle the pickle juice left over from your Bread N Butter Chips. I love pickle juice, drink it straight when I get a hankering... but not in my mustard.
Next article we'll begin the journey, biting off a bigger chunk of industrial processed food yuckiness when we explore how to make our own homemade salad dressings, like Ranch, Bleu Cheese, and Italian. Hope to see you then... we'll leave you today with a food-related Beatles classic.
Mean Mr Mustard - The Beatles:
Chef Archer
...
...and the behind the scenes dating club introduction Webisode:
...
Mustard: One of the least offensive, to us un-refined folk, in your arsenal of refrigerator door condiments. Great ad campaign by French's... your food loves it, and so should you. Put the onus on your food... is it guilting you for not using French's yet, do you "feel" the peer-pressure mounting?
Read all about the history of French's Golden at their website. But where did the French family(who are really New Yorkers, not French anymore) get their knowledge of mustard-making? Wikipedia has an even more interesting history of mustard all the way back to ancient Roman culinary skills.
It was from the Romans that the Gauls were introduced to the wonderfully pungent concoction, and over the next several hundred years perfected its production until a couple of fellows in Dijon, France around 1777 named Maurice Grey and Auguste Poupon got together and shared recipe (Grey) with bank account (Poupon) and VIOLA! they created the world's best condiment.
The folks in Dijon take the production of their mustard very seriously, which is why the quality of their mustard has such worldwide notoriety, it's too bad we don't have this kind of loyalty to our food agriculture in the US, from the one's producing or the one's consuming.
From "The Perfect Pantry" blog:
Can we petition Kraft Foods to hire a few Canadian mustardarius-es?Though the original Grey Poupon store still stands in downtown Dijon, most of the world's Dijon (or Dijon-style) mustard is produced elsewhere, from seeds grown in Canada. The Grey Poupon you find on every supermarket shelf is made today by Kraft Food, but in medieval times, mustard was made by a mustardarius -- someone whose sole responsibility was to oversee the growing and preparation of mustard.The mustardarius would soak brown mustard seeds in water to activate the enzyme myrosinase. When the desired heat level was achieved, he would add an acidic liquid, usually wine or vinegar (for stronger mustards) or verjuice (a milder acid, which resulted in what we now call Dijon mustard), and a bit of salt. The mustardarius had a lot of control over the taste and strength of the final product.
Except for the nebulous "spices" and "natural flavorings", the ingredient list on a bottle of plain French's Golden Mustard is very un-alarming.
INGREDIENTS:
Distilled Vinegar, Water, No.1 Grade Mustard Seed, Salt, Turmeric, Paprika, Spice, Natural Flavors and Garlic Powder.
Distilled Vinegar, Water, No.1 Grade Mustard Seed, Salt, Turmeric, Paprika, Spice, Natural Flavors and Garlic Powder.
Therefore, the color of French's Golden Mustard is very natural. And if you believe the results of this 1998 University of Texas research study: "Mechanisms of anticarcinogenic properties of curcumin: the effect of curcumin on glutathione linked detoxification enzymes in rat liver", turmeric has anti-carcinogenic properties that make it something you want to ADD to your diet.
Looking at some YouTube videos for making homemade mustard...
The Howcast version:
...
In The Mood For Food version:
...
Someone should explain to Chef Kev that there is a reason Mustard Gas is a very effective weapon.
Seriously, when you break apart the mustard seeds, they release an enzyme called myrosinase, which comes into contact with sinigrin (a glucosinolate) contained in the plant tissue vacoules. The combination of these two produces a substance called allyl isothiocyanate, (AITC) which is responsible for the heat you experience from mustard, wasabi and horseradish. It is toxic in large enough doses, so don't play around.
No, you aren't making weapons-grade mustard gas, but anything with cyano- in the name... isn't for play time. We all are familiar with the effects of cyanide and the "don't drink the kool-aid" meme. Fortunately in this particular chemical form, AITC has some beneficial attributes by inhibiting the proliferation of prostate cancer cells in this 2003 study at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.
Guys... eat your mustard, wasabi and horse radish religiously, that's all I'm sayin'...
Moving on, I really had a hard time finding three videos of homemade mustard... I guess if honey-mustard salad dressing was acceptable I could have included Mr Salad Dressing's offering, but he used a store-bought mustard preparation, which kind of defeats our purpose here.
Ran across the Monastery Mustard video and although they don't show how their mustard is made from scratch, it is a nice video. Even though I am not the "monastic" type, I do share a common goal (or "ministry" in their words) of helping provide people with healthier food options, to nourish their bodies with eco-friendly food products.
I appreciate what these "old gals" are doing, their community is richer from their efforts. We all need local food purveyors of this quality in our area.
Monastery Mustard - Cooking Up A Story:
...
The problem of mustard when we add industrial food production into the equation, is one of exponential growth of market choices for the consumer. Hundred years ago we had one choice, now we look at the condiment aisle of a modern mega-market grocery store and there are dozens of options.
All I need is one good mustard... and I can add honey or stone-ground mustard seed, or tarragon myself depending on my palate cravings and momentary whims. But since the marketplace has become saturated with product choices in every nook and cranny of the food industry... then I have to be a vigilant label-reader. And if you have to do this down every single aisle.... you'll spend all day reading... bring a sleeping bag, it may take a few days.
It's overwhelming...
Advice straight from Michael Pollan.... if you are reading a food label and any of the first five ingredients is un-pronounceable or foreign to you, then put it down. You really don't need it.
French's Mustard isn't in violation of this rule, but in the interest of sharing my refrigerator contents with the world, I thought I'd share one of my own "lapses in good judgement". Turns out I have broken this rule without even knowing it. As a "flavor-whore", I love stronger mustards like Cajun, Chinese mustard etc.
As a matter of coming clean about my addiction: there are three different bottles of mustard in my fridge and at the drop of a hat any one of them could be mixed with honey, vinegar & oil, cream or wine to produce a sauce for pork or dressing for salad. A very versatile thing to have around.
Zatarain's (you pronounce that anyway you please) makes a Cajun mustard. The first 4 ingredients are pretty straightforward:
Water, Distilled Vinegar, Ground Mustard Seed and Salt.
So far so good.
Ingredient #5 -- Propylene Glycol Alginate.
What?
The Straight Dope dealt with this topic rather humorously.
PubMed handled it a little more seriously.
So PGA comes from kelp and has been used in the food industry a long time without much cause for concern, no Dow Chemical-like body count from mass poisoning. It just sounds too much like car anti-freeze, which is poisonous and apparently tastes good to dogs.
I just want to know why we aren't isolating natural thickeners, like the glycosylates in okra mucilage, for example... and use them in place of other substances like PGA or xanthum gum for viscosity. We are studying these natural compounds for medical uses, why not industrial food uses?
Well, I bought this Creole Mustard and will have to find something to use it on, probably ham or turkey sandwiches. But I don't plan on buying this brand of mustard again. I'll stick to Dijon or stone-ground mustard without PGA.
The Un-Refined Chef Homemade Mustard recipe:
You've watched the two videos up front, and here's a good basic mustard: From the Good Eats episode: Pretzel Logic, Alton Brown shares a recipe for homemade mustard. It looks like Alton's version is a good way to recycle the pickle juice left over from your Bread N Butter Chips. I love pickle juice, drink it straight when I get a hankering... but not in my mustard.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1/4 cup Dry Mustard Powder
- 1/4 cup Whole Mustard seed (ground slightly in mortar and pestle)
- 1/3 Tbl Brown sugar
- 1/2 cup White Wine (drinkable, not cooking wine)
- 1/3 Tbl Cider Vinegar
- 2-3 cloves Garlic
- 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt and Turmeric
- Dash of Paprika
- Water as needed (once it thickens on the stove, or dries out in the fridge)
DIRECTIONS:
Place all ingredients in a food processor and process the heck out of it. And when you think you've accomplished that, hit pulse a few extra times for good measure. About halfway in, take the lid off and scrape the sides and bottom with a spatula to make sure everything is getting blended together thoroughly. Should be a little liquidy, put in a saucepan on the stove with medium heat under it and keep stirring until it almost starts to bubble, cut off heat and let stand for 30 minutes or until cool.
Once cooled, pour into a glass storage container with lid and refrigerate. Should keep for at least a month. Adjust the recipe to your own monthly mustard eating needs. To experiment with different flavor variations try adding; honey, horseradish or tarragon in addition to or in place of the above ingredients.
Mean Mr Mustard - The Beatles:
...
Chef Archer
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