178 Spice Profiles
The plant
Mustard is a fast-growing
annual plant in the
cabbage family. It grows
up to 60cm (2ft) tall.Whole
White mustard seeds are light brown
rather than white. Brown and black
mustard seeds are smaller.Powder
Yellow mustard powder is often
made from a mixture of white and
brown seeds. Once moistened,
flavour develops within 10
minutes, but loses its
potency after an hour
or so unless vinegar
is added.Yellow
flowers turn
into green
seed fruitsEach
fruit
contains
around
6 seedsBOTANICAL NAMES
Brassica alba (white), B. juncea (brown),
B. nigra (black)ALSO KNOWN AS
Indian mustard (brown).MAJOR FLAVOUR COMPOUNDS
Isothiocyanates.PARTS USED
Seeds. Leaves are also edible,
raw or cooked.METHOD OF CULTIVATION
The green seed fruits (“pods”) are harvested
about 4 months after sowing, when full-size
but not quite ripe, so they don’t split open.COMMERCIAL PREPARATION
Fruits are stacked in sheaves to dry for
about 10 days, then threshed and graded.
Seeds for grinding will have their bitter,
papery seed coats stripped off.NON-CULINARY USES
Mustard oil is applied topically to treat
muscular aches and arthritis.MUSTARD
Pungent | Earthy | Sharp
Mustard seeds have been found in
prehistoric sites from China to Europe.
First records of the use of mustard as
a condiment date back to the ancient
Greeks and Romans, who chewed the
seeds whole, pulverized and sprinkled
them over food, or steeped them in
wine. By the Middle Ages, white
mustard had made its way to India and
China via the Arab trade routes, and
brown mustard had travelled overland
from its native India to Europe. One
method of transporting the powder was
to mix it with flour and other spices and
form it into balls using honey, wine, or
vinegar. The term mustard is thought
to come from the Latin mustum, the
name for the young wine used to mix
the ground seeds to a paste.Spice story
Region of cultivation
White mustard is probably native to
the Mediterranean region. It is cultivated
in most temperate regions of Europe,
and in North America, mainly in Canada.
Brown mustard is probably native to the
foothills of the Himalayas. It is cultivated
throughout India.UNITED
KINGDOM
FRANCE
GERMANY
POLAND
BELARUS
ITALY
ROMANIA
IRELAND
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