Some Interesting Facts About the Versatile Condiment Mustard

Mustard happens to be a very versatile condiment. It's not just that yellow stuff that was in everyone's refrigerator. It's come into it's own. Remember the "Please pass the Grey Poupon?" ads. Well, Grey Poupon has come up with several new versions of mustard. Harvest Coarse Ground, Hearty Spicy Brown and Savory Honey to name a few.

Mustard comes from mustard seed, something found in every cultures foods. Mustard is mentioned in the Bible and was found in the pyramids of Egypt. It comes from Europe and Asia originally. Mustard itself, the condiment is mentioned in government decrees in France as early as 1306. At that time it was basically the result of ground mustard seeds combined with vinegar. Mr Grey and Mr Poupon joined together to create a machine to crush the seeds in 1777. That mixture was black or brown seed crushed and combined with white wine. That is still the recipe for basic Grey Poupon mustard.

The new flavors first came into the development stage in 2006.

Mustard is now used in all sorts of recipes not just on hot dogs. It's mentioned in songs (Arrowsmith) and in sitcoms (Family Matters).

Varieties of mustard are coarse, spicey, deli/brown, honey, yellow/ballpark, dijon and mixed with horseradish. Now Poupon has come out with the three new tasty versions I mentioned above.

Savory Honey is nice on sandwiches. It's made with a combination of clover honey and spices. Great on Ham. This also makes a terrific dipping mustard. Try it for egg rolls or chicken tenders.

Hearty Spicy Brown has fine diced onions in it as well as horseradish. This one is great on Bratwurst or hamburger.

Harvest Coarse Ground is made with whole mustard seed to give it a special texture and a more intense flavor as well as a good visual appeal. Great in those deviled eggs, on pork or Salmon.

Any of these will really perk up sandwiches, salad dressings or that Baked Ham. They will give your hot dog a whole new angle or do something special for a nice piece of fish.

According to the site Grey Poupon is made with the finest of ingredients and is mentioned as one of life's finer pleasures. Each jar is marketed at $2.89 for the 8 oz size bottle. It contains 0 g of fat and about 5-10 calories per serving. Your jar of mustard should be refigerated once its opened. The Harvest Coarse Ground and Hearty Spicy Brown won medals at the Napa Valley Mustard Competition. Funny, a mustard competition but if you ever saw what goes into producing a new product you wouldn't be surprised that there are competitions. Everything from the ingredients, packaging, advertising, labelling is studied in great detail before a new product or new version of an old product is put on the market. Sample markets are given the finished product and the marketability is studied in those areas.There are mustard culinary experts who do the taste testing when new versions of mustard are developed. They decide what is the best honey to use, which seeds would work well, how big the seeds sould be and what markets to present it in.

An easy recipe for fish:

4 Salmon filets on foil covered baking sheet.. Spread with Harvest Coarse Ground mustard and bread crumbs. Bake 25 minutes or until fish flakes.Extremely simple but very appetizing.

So, the next time you are in your condiment aisle be adventurous Try one of the new mustards and see hpw impressive a dish you can turn out with very little effort. Whip up an interesting sauce, make your devilled eggs a smash hit or just pop some pita chips in a bowl and hit the Savory Honey Mustard for a real change in taste. Please pass the Grey Poupon.