Mustard
The French began using mustard seeds as a spice beginning around 800 AD, and it was one of the spices that Spanish explorers took with them throughout the 1400s. Mustard seeds are the small seeds that are found in the various types of mustard plants. They are about 1 mm in diameter and vary in color from yellowish white to black. They are important spices in many different cuisines and come from three different plants: black mustard, brown Indian mustard, and white or yellow mustard. On the Indian subcontinent, mustard seeds are often used whole and quickly fried in oil, allowing the seeds to pop open and add flavor to the oil.
You can extract mustard oil from the seeds. You can ground the seeds into a flour and mix it into a thick paste with a little water in order to make the condiment we know as mustard – this is particularly true of the white seeds. Ordinary flour is added to the ground mustard powder in order to weaken the resulting condiment. Other ingredients such as sugar, honey, vinegar, wine, or milk can also be used to mix mustard. The sauce is mild in flavor when it is first mixed, but it develops a stronger flavor in time. Strong mustard will detrimentally affect the nasal membranes if it is eaten carelessly. If you wish to create whole grain mustard, soak the whole seeds in liquid before grinding.
Initially, mustard was believed to be a medicinal rather than a culinary plant. In the sixth century it was used to treat scorpion stings, and one hundred years later, mustard was used in various medicines and poultices. Mustard plasters were used to cure many different ailments. Prepared mustard has a history that dates back to the early Romans who ground mustard seeds and mixed them with wine into a paste that was quite similar to the prepared mustard we use today.
