United States President Barack Obama recently enjoyed a hamburger in a local restaurant. He didn’t enjoy the publicity though when it was revealed he ordered Dijon from France and not American mustard. And what then is English mustard?
Regardless of the name, mustard is one of the oldest of condiments. Known since the days of the ancient Greeks, Romans and Chinese, it is even mentioned in the Bible. Native to Europe and Asia, there are two kinds: white mustard (Brassica hirta) seeds are used to make American and English mustard. Black mustard (B. juncea) is used in European “continental” condiments.
Dijon, capital of the French province of Burgundy, is a city of
haute gourmandise, proud of its reputation for a fine food. It was there, in the middle of the 19th-century that a brilliant Burgundian decided not to use vinegar to mix with mustard powder. Instead, Jean Naigeon used the sour juice from unfermented grapes, verjuice, and voila, Dijon mustard was invented.
The very fine mustard powder was, however, invented earlier across the English Channel, when in 1804 the flour miller Jeremiah Colman commenced producing the condiment that, to this day, is especially associated with “English” mustard. This is usually hot, often very much so.
The mild “American” mustard, the stuff you slap on hot dogs and, unless you are the U.S. President, hamburgers is messy mixture of mustard powder, salt, vinegar, turmeric and other #. It is that last, turmeric, which stains so when it drips on clothes.
While Colman is the name much associated with English mustard, the equivalent in the United States for American mustard is the firm of French. This might be even more embarrassing for a true American such as the head of the world’s leading nation. President Obama ordered his burger with French mustard, Dijon, while declining American mustard possibly made by a U.S. firm named French. He didn’t relish the experience.
