Mustard seeds

use:
fish, meat and vegetable marinades, cucumbers, stews, soups, cervelat sausage

The mustard seeds are odourless and, like the dry mustard powder, have no aroma. The characteristic, pungent, burning flavour only develops when water is added. Whole mustard seeds are used to season marinades, pickles, pickle leaves, pickle sheets and preserves.

tip:
The crushed grains can be used with oil and vinegar for salad dressings.

Recipe suggestion:
Apricot and apple chutney: Finely chop 500 g apricots. If they are very dry, first soak them in water for a few hours. Peel 2 green apples and chop finely. Cut 2 large onions into slices. Put all the ingredients in a pot, add 125 g sultanas, 450 ml white vinegar, 250 g brown sugar, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp ground allspice, 1/4 tsp ground ginger and 1 1/2 tsp salt and cook slowly to a thick paste. Stir frequently. Pour hot into preserving jars.

Grind the mustard seeds in a mortar and you get mustard powder

knowledge:
Chemistry: The pungency of mustard is due to a biological protection mechanism against predators. If the plant tissue is damaged, pungent substances are formed.

Botany:
White mustard from the genus Sinapis is annual and belongs to the cruciferous family, as do several species from the genera Brassica and Eruca, which are also used to obtain mustard. The dark green, ovate, elongated leaves are pinnately lobed and serrated. The light golden-yellow flowers in dense clusters ripen into double pods divided by a thin membrane. Only the lower part of the pods bears light yellow, spherical seeds measuring 2.0 to 2.5 mm. The pods burst open at maturity and have a long fruit beak at the upper end.

Home & Spread:
White mustard is native to Europe, India and China and is found everywhere in the temperate zones. The main areas of cultivation today are France, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Poland

cultivation & extraction:
Mustard is mainly cultivated on a large scale in the fields. Shortly before the mustard is fully ripe, grass or binding mowers are used to cut the mustard into sheaves which are left to dry in the field. The mustard seed is then threshed out and left to dry for some time. Good goods are characterised by large grains with an even golden yellow colour.

history:
Mustard seeds have been used as a spice and remedy for thousands of years. Greeks and Romans were well aware of the effects of mustard, and it is mentioned more than once in the Bible. Jesus described the mustard seed as the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes something big. In 812 Charlemagne ordered the cultivation of culinary herbs, including mustard, and strictly supervised the implementation of his rule.