The topic instantly sent my brain into overdrive.
The other half of Jaci can cook is Dutch, and he has asked me at times to come up with a delicious mustard sauce recipe, akin to a mustard sauce you dip bitterballen into.
And I have tried, but it does not taste as he remembers.
Trying to get him to explain why the ‘Dutch’ version of mustard sauce is the best is difficult, as he attempts to describe it based on a memory from 25 years ago.
Before deep diving into the topic of mustard sauce, there are questions to be answered.
My first question is: which ethnicity is the mustard sauce you are after?
Different countries have different versions of mustard sauce.
The French have their Dijon, with its full mustard body flavour; the Germans like it thick, often with a lot of seeds, and have different mustards for different styles of sausage; the English like it hot and bright yellow, maybe even with a touch of horseradish; and the Americans have the classic ‘ballpark’ condiment, mild mustard sauce with an almost neon yellow colour.
Mustard is not just a western condiment; China and Japan like extremely pungent pastes, and India often uses whole seeds as a cooking spice.
The above are short descriptions of a whole country’s, or culture’s, use of mustard, but you could write a thick book on mustard — its wheres, whats and hows.
In my household, it is more like German, but a bit sweeter, bordering on the ballpark for the other half.
Whereas I like a bit of ‘old English’ on my cornbeef, or my homemade green tomato pickle on a sandwich, which is like a sweet mustard pickle you would pick up in the supermarket.
This brings me to question two.
What would you use a very good mustard sauce on?
In my household, homemade green tomato pickle goes on everything or is even just eaten straight from the jar.
The other half has stopped asking for mustard sauce to go on anything, because he can never find the one that reminds him of home, the Netherlands.
(Side point: he could go to the local deli, which has a wide array of Dutch foods, including a good selection of mustard and pick his own, but why would he?)
He thinks that I have not noticed that even though a lot of condiments and preserves are made in our household, he is not a great consumer of them, preferring to eat his main meals with very little seasoning.
Lastly, what is missing from the mustard? What could the secret ingredients be?
Mustard is a condiment made from white, yellow, brown or black mustard seeds, which can be fermented, used whole, cracked, dried, ground or bruised, then mixed with liquids such as water, vinegar, lemon juice or wine, with added flavours.
The colour can be anything from brown to bright yellow.
It is likely that if your mustard sauce is bright yellow, it contains a lot of turmeric, a natural product, or, if you are unlucky, the number E102.
You can find turmeric in my green tomato relish, to make the mustard colour and add flavour.
In a couple of weeks, when there are more green tomatoes around, we will be cooking green tomato relish.
Which is a great segue into what I really wanted to talk about — tomatoes — but you will have to wait until next time for that.
See you all in the kitchen soon!
– Jaci
• Jaci is about to deep dive into tomatoes, preserving them in the Vacola unit and making chutney and relish. Do you have a favourite tomato recipe to share? Let her know at jaci.hicken@mmg.com.au
