June 4, 2020 • 36 mins
This spice and the condiments made from it bring heat (and color, and structural cohesion) to dishes around the world. Anney and Lauren dip into spicy science and history of mustard.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hello, and welcome to Savor production of I Heart Radio.
I'm Annie Reese and I'm Lauren voc Obam and today
we're talking about mustard. Yes, yes, yes. I was like, Lauren,
it's your birthday. We could do anything. What do you
want to do? And you said mustard And I love
that so much. I was thinking like some type of
cake or whatever. No, no, mustard, mustard. So happy birthday, Lauren.
(00:35):
Thank you. I will get you something else other than
letting you choose the topic for our work thing that
we do together. Oh yeah, well that's unnecessary but very kind.
Thank you. You are welcome. You're welcome. I too love mustard.
I love all types of mustard. Um one of my favorites.
(00:55):
We have a local mustard here in Atlanta, and I
love which what I haven't We have a local mustard,
which one we do. It's so it's from a company
called Do South and then then that X and they
have three types. They have drunken mustard, creole mustard, and
spicy mustard. And there there's like really thick grainy ones.
(01:17):
Yeah I love I love a whole grain mustard. Yeah,
I really love the stuff that that the Brickstore pub
down indicator makes Um, they've got a great house mustard,
also a whole grain mustard. Um. I just like mustard.
It's my favorite condiment. I think it goes on and
in pretty much everything savory anyway. Um, yeah, I it's
(01:40):
probably up there for me as well. And ever since
we've done this episode of the research for it, I've
been using so much mustard that I already have gotten through.
I've got like four types and I've gone through one
and a half. O. Wow, Dan, that is a lot
of mustard. Yeah. My my grainy kind is gone and
my Dijon is halfway there. For there, I'm gonna have
(02:00):
to rash it a bit perhaps. Oh yeah, yeah, because
you're you're taking those those long, long rests in between
grocery trips. Yes, as I was telling Lauren, my current
concern is my coffee supply. This is also my concern
because I just I'm like anxious for you. I'm like
thinking about like, I'm like, do I know which window
(02:21):
is Annie's? Can I like, can I just like like
throw a bag of coffee beans like at her window?
I guess it would have to be open, but maybe
it would. I don't know. Anyway, I promise. I'm not
gonna like John kusak you with coffee, but unless you
want that, I mean, it might be the happiest day
of my life if I just got a random thing
of coffee thrown in my window. Would be pretty great,
(02:45):
to be honest, I'll keep you posted, Okay. I really
appreciate the thought and concern because it's coffee, as you know,
is a very serious thing. It certainly is. What else
is a serious thing, apparently is everyone has very strong
opinions about where mustard should and should not go, particularly
with hot dogs. I guess um. I was just reminded
(03:10):
of that ridiculous blow up around the time when President
Obama got a cheeseburger and he asked for spicy mustard
or a Dijon mustard. Everyone was like, fancy mustard? What's
he doing? That doesn't belong there? How an American to
ask for Dijon mustard like that sounds pretty good, to
be right. That's delicious. Mustard goes on your cheeseburger. That's great,
(03:34):
especially ane creamy dijon. Come on, I know, I know,
but people have got opinions. They certainly do, and being
one of them, I suppose I support that. Well, let
us get to a question, mustard. What is it? Well,
(03:58):
Mustard is the name of a group of condiments and
the plants that those condiments are made from. Those plants
are mostly in the genuses Brassica and Snappis, and both
of these are in the Brassicassier family, which we have
talked about a lot before. Turnips, rugula, radish, with sabi, kale, cauliflower,
all our cousins. Yes, yeah, I had no idea, and
(04:23):
I it all makes sense now, um because as with
as with all of these cousins, mustard plants have evolved
to create these compounds that we experience as as pungent
or or spicy hot on our tongue and sometimes in
our mucous membranes to um, and those compounds evolved to
discourage animals and like even microbes from eating those plants.
(04:44):
But like suckers, humans decided that we like that burn.
Oh I love the bird, love it, love it. Mm
hmmm uh. In mustard plants, those compounds are concentrated in
the seeds, and mustard are kind of weedy flowering plants
that they'll grow to about three feet or bottom meter
(05:04):
tall and put off these small flowers, usually yellow um,
that if pollinated, will produce long, skinny seed pods containing
a number of small seeds ranging in color from white
to brown to black. And these seeds just sitting there
minding their own seed business, um, actually don't contain any
(05:25):
spicy compounds. Those compounds are only formed when the seeds
are crushed and mixed with water through the release and
activation of enzymes that the seeds contain when they are
thus treated. And evolutionarily, this makes perfect sense because you
know animals mouths contain saliva, which contains water. So when
you chew up the seeds, the plant by creating these
(05:48):
these spicy compounds, that this enzyme action is saying, hey, hey,
hey stop that. Stop that don't know bad um. But
if you swallow the seeds whole, that's fine like for
the plant. Preferable even because you might then pass the
seeds whole and unharmed through your digestive system and thus
spread the seeds out into the greater world for that
(06:08):
plant to better reproduce in other places. Mm hmmm. So anyway, Um,
the that burn will only last as long as the
enzymes are doing their thing, um, and they'll start wearing
out after about fifteen minutes. So um, Why then, is
prepared mustard from seeds that have been crushed weeks for
(06:29):
or months ago? Uh still spicy? Well? Uh. If you
introduce an acid to the mix, like say vinegar, it
will preserve those spicy compounds and it will also inhibit
further spiciness from from developing. Um. And that's why prepared
mustards tend to contain vinegar, because it both preserves the
flavor and makes it a bit more mild than what
(06:50):
you'd get if you added, say like alcohol to the mix,
which would produce a very spicy spice. Yes. Yes, So
to make the condiment mustard, you grow ender, crush mustard seeds,
and mix that with water and acid and probably some
seasonings and or preservatives like salt and sugar, forming anything
from a thick paste to a to a thick, if
(07:11):
porable liquid, depending on you know what you're going for.
White mustard seeds are a little more mild due to
the type of compounds that they create and tend to
only hit your tongue with a spice. Brown and black
mustards hit your mouth and sinuses as well. Um, And
and with those it tends to be a good slow burn.
I love it. I love it. I had a very
intense mustard burning sensation last night. Oh yeah, yeah, yes,
(07:36):
oh it was good. But uh yeah, there was a
definitely in the nose. I could feel like quite a while.
It'll it'll get up in there. It's true. Um, you can.
You can also grind mustard seeds into flour and uh
use it less for its bite than for its other
sort of like bitter sulfury flavors and its colors, and
(07:57):
and furthermore, it's excellent emulsifying and thickening properties because ground
mustard helps oil and water play nice. Uh So it's
a great addition to any sauce or dressing that you
want to prevent from separating and also help thicken up
a bit. Um. I use it in my salad dressing
just like oil and uh balsamic or or lemon juice
(08:18):
and some some whole grain mustard, honey, salt, and pepper.
Mix it up in a jar. So good, so simple.
Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing. It is. What else
is amazing? The name mustard derives from the Latin mustard,
meaning burning must And if that isn't an axe body spray,
(08:39):
then what the hell are we even doing here? That
is unacceptable? Axe body spray call us you have some
splanning to do? I think, uh. Yeah. And and must
that um that must is uh isn't isn't must is
in is in like animalistic must. It's mustard in a
(09:01):
grape must as an unfermented juice from crushed grapes, as
in wine making. Um. Ancient Roman recipes called for mixing
ground seeds of the plant, which were then called snappis um,
with grape must. So m hmm, burning must burning must
(09:21):
really does take you someplace? It does? It does? Uh?
You can you can also eat mustard greens. Um. They're
they're they're mildly spicy um, either in salads if they're
a little bit younger, or if they're they're slightly older,
tougher greens. You might want to cook them the way
that you would collards or kale or or spinach. Yeah. Um.
(09:43):
And ground mustard meal from which that the oil has
been removed for other purposes, is also used in farming um,
like in soils to help control pests and microbial growth. UM.
And also in the cosmetics industry. Huh all right, yeah, well,
what about the nutrition. This is normally where I say, like,
(10:05):
you're not really eating enough of a condiment to get
a nutritive property from it. But in my case, I
think that's a lie anyway, So I concur uh So.
So it does depend, of course, on on how you
prepare it, what you put into it. Um. But but
mustard is a pretty great addition to your diet because
(10:25):
it's a it's a low calorie, high flavor condiment that
contains like like a like a little bit like good
fats and protein and dietary fiber and lots of minerals. Um.
It's it's pretty great for you. I mean, don't eat
a whole lot. Don't don't eat too much mustard guys.
Like as with any seed, it's it's going to block
(10:47):
your stuff up and you're not gonna you're not gonna
like it. Yeah. But yeah, in general general yeah. Um.
And Furthermore, mustard has been used medicinally for pretty much
ever externally and internally for everything from like snake bites
to arthritis to bronchitis to the bubonic plague. It's and
(11:08):
it is being investigated for all kinds of things. But
as with anything, human bodies are complicated. More research is
necessary before introducing a medicinal quantity of anything into your diet.
Consulted doctor. Ah, there you go. The saver slogan. Ye slogan.
(11:29):
It's a very long and boring slogan. It's not the catchiest,
but it is the best in terms of what we're
trying to say. Yes, you have some numbers for you. Yes. Um.
Mustard is one of the most popular condiments in the world.
(11:50):
In the United States, it is the most popular hotdog
topping as well. It should be um strong opinion about
that one. Um uh. And it is apparently as a
as a spice, the second most used spice in the
United States after only peppercorn. Wow. Right. As of the
(12:10):
nineteen nineties, France consumed the most mustard per person per year,
about one and a half pounds per person per year,
which is about point seven kilos um, which sounds like
a lot, but it also doesn't sound like a lot.
I'm like, oh, yeah, no, I go through that. That's sure. Yeah. Um.
I couldn't find more recent numbers though, so I'm not sure.
I don't know, like, maybe I'm tipping scales. Maybe you're like,
(12:30):
it's like that seed in mulan one food podcaster can
tip the scales. Yeah. Um, I was thinking about this
because I was kind of surprised that France was so
high up there. But then I went on a very
fun rabbit hole where people were arguing about whether or
not mustard counts as a sauce. Oh yeah, yeah, it's
(12:53):
it's an ingredient in in in sauces too, so yeah,
right right, and it's all that it's like marinated chicken
and cold salads and stuff. But it was just really
funny to hear people get so about whether or not
mustard is a sauce and if it is, does it
count as a traditional sauce or not? Oh gosh. If
I'm not gonna that's that's beyond that. That's about my
(13:16):
pay grade. My hands are raised in the surrender position.
I defer to people who have more knowledge about sauces
and French sauces. Um. So, okay, there's National Mustard Day,
which is yes, August first, but it is often celebrated
on the first Saturday of August, which really confused me
(13:37):
because I kept finding different dates. Okay, but um, it's
particularly the National Mustard Museum and Middleton, Wisconsin. They celebrate
it on the first Saturday. I believe they were the
ones that made this happen to I think they're behind
National Mustard And this sounds like if anyone has been
to the National Mustard Museum in Middleton, Wisconsin, UM, please
(14:01):
write in and let us know. It sounds like a
place of wonder and merriment. Um. They've got over fifty
six hundred mustards in their collection, originating from all fifty
states and over seventy other countries. It's a thing of beauty.
I I never dared to dream, Annie, and now you know,
(14:25):
dreams can come true. They can. Um. Yeah. I And
I found their website very charming. It very much made
me want to go. And it also kind of cucks
me up that it's in Wisconsin, because I do feel
like it's a big mustard place. Yeah yeah, yeah, you know,
(14:48):
um it's got some of those the influence from areas
that are big un mustard. So I yeah, love it,
love it, love every part of it. Yes, um. And
they there are so many types of mustard that we
tried to We were talking about this before we started recording,
get to the bottom of like if you've got honey
mustard and you've got English mustard and Creole mustard, German mustard,
(15:11):
which a lot of articles just rolled their eyes out
because that is apparently way too big a category. It
could mean anything, it could mean anything. Um. So you've
got a whole world of mustards out there, so I
can see why the Mustard Museum, the National Mustard Museum,
excuse me, thank you, thank you, Annie the respect, give
(15:34):
the respect that is due, has so many different types
of mustards. Ah. Here is a quote, um that I
loved from Mustard a Global History by Goose Dimmitt. Mustard
is more than a condiment. It is the embodiment of
civilization because the story of mustard is the story of medicine,
(15:54):
myth and magic, myth and magic, myth and magic. Yes, okay,
all right, well I'll be sure to include more mustard
in our D and D sessions from that long. That
is true. That is a failing on me. I have
not other than any mustard. You know. I think everyone's
(16:16):
been been trying to find a way to tell you
that's fair. I can't believe it took me this long.
You know, my original plot uh and I had to
scrap it because I was like, this is a one shot. Essentially,
what I've written was a whole food based revenge plot
that involved a fancy meal that went terribly awry and
(16:37):
everybody had like these PTSD memories of this meal that
went so wrong. Yeah, but that the character who was
going to be leading that whole thing ended up being
on an US. Uh, it lives on in the current campaign.
All right, well, that's good, that's good. I'm glad, um.
But if you recall she got fired for a food
(16:59):
incident her restaurant g the Huff Up Grub that she
worked at. Now that you mentioned it, I do remember that.
My it's full of easter eggs that no one gets
literally and there's no way they would but me. That's
I'm glad that you're keeping yourself entertained. That is really
(17:21):
mission critical, honestly, So like Bravo, I'm just chuckling it
to myself, like not us, they don't know this. I
that that was one that when you introduced her, I did.
I did chuckle because ane of us is uh one
(17:43):
of the words for pineapple, and you described her as
being a gnome that had kind of like pineapple reminiscent
hair going on, looks like a pineapple. Yeah, so so
I I laughed. I mean I laugh at everything, but
like I feel like everyone around the table was why
is Lauren laughing now? And I was like, it's pineapple,
(18:04):
it's anyway, like damn anyway. You wouldn't understand. This is
our our regular check in on our ridiculous D and
D journeys. You are welcome, Yeah, yeah, indeed, but yes,
(18:24):
we must return to mustard. We we must return to mustard.
We're going to get into the history here, but first
we're going to take a quick break for a word
from our sponsor, and we're back. Thank you, sponsor, Yes,
(18:45):
thank you. The different varieties of mustard used in the
condiment mustard probably originated all over, white mustard in the Meterranean,
brown mustard in the Himalayas, and black mustard in the
Middle East and or parts of Asia. The greens most
likely originated in China or Japan. Uh. Some sources suggest
that according to ancient Sumerian and Indian text, people were
(19:08):
eating mustard all the way back to three thousand BC,
and by some accounts they were grinding it with a
liquid to make paste. I don't know. I was very
confused by the timeline of that, because some people very
much pushed that. But then it was like, but the
first time it was made into a condiment was not then,
and it confused me. Yes, maybe it's like the whole
(19:30):
sauce thing of who what makes it a condiment questions.
In its early days, mustard was viewed as a primarily
medicinal item. For instance, ancient Greek scientists Pythagoras recommended mustard
as a remedy for scorpion stinks scorpion stinks in the
(19:54):
sixth century b c. E. I will say, growing up
in the South, did you ever do the thing where
you you put your shoe, you put your foot in
the shoe, and then the scorpions in there, and then, um,
there weren't a lot of scorpions in uh In in
South Florida. I think it's a little bit too wet
for them or just not not the not the right
condition in one way or another. But I do know
(20:17):
plenty of humans. I visited people in Texas, um and
I've talked to cousins down in the islands where yeah,
they'll they'll be like, oh yeah, yeah, watched watch your shoes.
Always shake out your shoes, and like it is a
rite of passage. You've got to do it. I remember
my cousin. He was kind of sheltered, and when he
(20:37):
was like eight or nine, he came to stay with
us for the first time, and I traumatized him. I
was like telling him about the scorpions and you better watch.
And then I went to hear the sound of the cicadas.
He called his parents and he left. Oh my god,
two hours. Oh my gosh. Oh I love the sound
of the cicada's. Anyway, they freaked him out. That so
(21:02):
back to by baggers and scorpion steaks. That was sixth
century BC. Hippocrds utilize mustard and poultices and other medicines
for the treatment of all kinds of things, and fifth
century BC, particularly like for your teeth, um hm. The
tombs of ancient Egyptian pharaohs were stocked with mustard seeds
to accompany them on their journey to the afterlife. Yeah,
(21:25):
one of the things they found in a king tut
In commons too, m hmm. And mustard may well be
one of our first condiments. The history of it does
go way back, at least all the way back to
ancient Rome before the arrival of pepper to Europe. They
would take the mustard seeds and then when they would
grind them up with wine or grape must um, sometimes
(21:45):
with the addition of honey, vinegar, and or other spices
to make a paste for eating. Plenty mentioned it and
described a recipe of crushing the seeds in vinegar. The
condiment spread throughout Europe. The seeds were often planted in
or near vineyards, and it became particularly popular in Germany
and France. By the ninth century, French monasteries were cultivating
(22:08):
and selling mustard. It was commercially available in century Paris
at least by then. A century earlier, mustard made its
way to England. Because it was cheap to grow and
to make, it was one of the few condiments pretty
accessible to everyone in Europe, of all classes. It did
go on to become associated with the poor during medieval
(22:30):
times when more expensive spices started to be imported into Europe.
Um and so it was soon as you're still using
mustard exactly, oh, humans, it tastes gread what yeah, Because
the small mustard seed can grow into something big and strong.
(22:51):
It was used in parables in the Bible, though and
I this was a rabbit hole. I also loved Some
people argue about the interpretation of the mustard seed as
a blessing or a warning that I can grow unchecked.
I actually need to watch out for the mustard seed. Okay, yeah,
(23:13):
I recommend if that's a fun theological wealth maybe fun.
It is just my If theological debates about mustard in
the Bible is something that interests you, I recommend it um.
In either case, the mustard seed was adopted as a
symbol in Christianity to the point that an official position
mustard maker to the Pope was created by Pope John
(23:37):
and the first person to hold this post was his nephew, who,
by most accounts he maybe didn't love mustard that much.
The pope he just wanted his nephew to do something
and thought he won't mess this up. Yeah, I think he.
I think he noted that that that it was his
idol nephew, not as in American idol, but and like
(24:00):
like sitting around ideally Yeah yeah, so, uh, mysteries history
on that one. But either case, the position was created,
his nephew got it. His nephew was from Dijon, where
mustard grew well. And speaking of let's talk about Dijon
and specifically Gray Poupon. By the twelve hundreds, Dejon, France
(24:25):
was already known for its mustard production inter Mares Gray
and Antoine Poupon, who introduced gray Poupon in the seventeen seventies.
Uh yeah, I know right. They were also the first
to use an automatic mustard making machine. And the original
storefront is still there. I don't know that you can
go in, but it's still there. Um. If anyone's been,
(24:47):
let us know when other spices became more affordable. At
the beginning of the eighteenth century, mustard experienced a dent
in popularity, but a new innovation and mustard changed that.
In eighteen fifty six, Jean Nagon swapped out the vinegar
and mustard for their juice, which is the acidic liquid
(25:07):
of unripe grapes, and voila Dijon mustard. Yeah. Stepping back
a bit, Mustard balls were a popular snack in fifteenth
and sixteenth century England. I wanted these that they were
dried balls of mustard, flour and cinnamon. Yeah. Shakespeare even
(25:27):
mentioned them in one of his works. Yeah. Queen Victoria
appointed another big name and mustard Jeremiah Coleman of Coleman's
Mustard of England as her official mustard maker in eighteen
sixties six official mustard maker. In his technique, the seeds
were finally ground into a powder without generating oil releasing heat,
(25:49):
so it preserved the oil and the flavor. Another royal
fan of mustard French King Louis the eleventh, who reportedly
carried a jar of it wherever he went so he
would never be without it, like they did provide it
on the table. He's got mustard in his bag, He's
got lusted. A popular but most likely apocryphal story goes
(26:16):
that Benjamin Franklin brought mustard from France to the US
and he was the US ambassador to France. I don't know,
I really only it seems that that's just a popularly
told story. Yeah, I feel like any number of like
Eastern European German French immigrants would have brought it over
at any number of times, So I know it doesn't
(26:38):
track with pretty much every other episode we've done where
and if it's from Europe, anyone from Europe brought things
they liked to the US when they came. Like the
phrase cut the mustard seems to be American in origin,
first appearing in writing in a Galveston, Texas newspaper in
(26:59):
the for Mentions of the toxic properties of sulfur mustard
started appearing in the eighties. The first known attempts to
produce large quantities of mustard sulfur took place in six
and this eventually led to the mustard chills used in
World War One. But but this is not related to
mustard plants. Um sulfur mustard or nitrogen mustard are so
(27:24):
named for them for the kind of smell that they
produced in the kind of and then the burning effects
of course that they're known for. So so yeah, so
so same name, totally separate unrelated compounds um and mustard gas. Though,
as I was trying to figure all of this out, um,
I found the fascinating article about how mustard gas um
(27:46):
and and it is really a very terrible um form
of chemical warfare. It also led to the development, though
of the first chemotherapy for cancer. That yeah, yeah, different,
different show, um, I think, yes, very much, but but
really interesting, yes, so yellow mustard. Yellow mustards popularity started
(28:08):
to rise in the US in the early nineteen hundreds
and this was mostly due to the nineteen o four
Saint Louis World Fair, where the RT French Company yes
that's French, huh, introduced the world to a hot dog
served with yellow mustard, so called American mustard. Now the
(28:31):
color actually comes from a tumeric, so mustard yellow? Is
it quite accurate? I mean, I still agree the mustard
itself is yellow. So I don't know. A lot of
people were very adamant that the phrase is incorrect. I mean,
I guess when you get down to what the word
mustard means, like great mustard, so that it's all incorrect.
(28:54):
We are all incorrect, always with the hard hitting but
wise true floren So what I'm here for perfect? George
French Um of the French Company experimented with tumeric to
add something both flavor and color. Wise worked. Oh, I
(29:17):
love this, okay. Apparently in the early twentieth century, calling
someone mustard was the equivalent of saying they were great. Okay.
I tried to look into this, Um, and gosh, I
I so. I think the idea here was that, you know,
mustard enhances flavor, So if something is mustard or maybe
like the mustard, you're the mustard then it's good. I couldn't.
(29:41):
I couldn't really find I had a I had a
really hard time finding um examples of this in the vernacular. Um,
although I did find a quote from Oh Henry's Cabbages
and Kings from four um he wrote, I'm not headlined
in the bills, but I'm the mustard in the salad
dressing just the same. Oh. I like that. Yeah, yeah,
(30:07):
so so I'm not sure. I'm not sure exactly how
it was used, but I adore everything about this. I know.
I want to bring it back so badly. It's going
to confuse some people for a minute, but I think
we can do it. I think, well, I think I
think it'll catch on. Yeah, m hmmm. What else. It
seems like a perfectly good use of quarantine time is
(30:28):
to get mustard to catch online. American farmers started growing
more mustard around World War Two, when supply chains from
from Europe were affected. Um and uh, and we are
still one of the leading producers of of mustard now yes, yes.
In Gray Poupon debuted their fancy Rolls Royce commercial touting
(30:54):
their product as one of the finer things in life.
And it worked. It very much works. And sales went
way up. It's supposed to be like, you know, maybe
you can't afford the roles of Royce, but you can
afford to spend a little bit more mustard. You can
afford the extra buck or two on your on your
fancy mustard. Yeah all right, yeah. Um it was apparently
(31:17):
a big enough deal to appear in multiple Bustard timelines
I found, so I thought i'd include it continue the trend.
I did want to say here, Um, as we sort
of mentioned earlier, there are a lot of types of mustard,
and we did try to get to the bottom of
honey mustard and English mustard and when did all these
(31:41):
things originate, But there wasn't much information out there other
than probably it originated here around at this time, but
it was still very vague. Yeah, yeah, I think that,
I think it. In order to really dig out some
of that, we would have to just do profiles on
different companies that were producing mustard, which could be fascinating. Um,
(32:02):
it could be, but yeah, yeah, hard hard to say
from a from from an overall product standpoint. Yes, I did.
I feel like a honey mustard was a nineteen twenties
forties thing. It was a salad dressing urginally and it
was sweeter for American sweet tooth. M makes sense, I
(32:25):
mean like things like creole mustard also to me, just
makes sense that if you have this thing, you would
kind of make it fit your own region, or like
add the spices of your own region, or should taste
cater to those things. So if any of listeners have
any information specific mustard information, oh, yes, yes, yes, please
(32:46):
send it our way. And speaking of we do have
some listener mail for you, we do. But first we've
got one more quick break for a word from our sponsor,
and we're back. Thank you, sponsor, Yes, thank you, And
(33:08):
we're back with listen celebrating Lauren, you know, and mustard
both and listener yes always yes. Kelly wrote, I just
listened to your muffin episode last night. I remembered something
(33:30):
I think you would enjoy quite a bit. Annie mentioned
her chocolate chip muffin recipe with sour cream in the batter.
There is an excellent blueberry muffin recipe also made with
sarah cream, on page seventy seven of the Unofficial Harry
Potter Cookbook by Dina Bocolts. It's probably very similar to
the recipe you already have, but knowing you're a big
HP fan, I thought i'd recommend the book as lots
(33:52):
of fun recipes with tie ends to the Potter verse.
I hope it brings a smile. Yes, it does. I
probably had this on the show for some reason. I
am somebody who I guess it's because I'm really passionate
about things. I get a lot of nicknames, and one
of my nicknames is blueberries, because I love, loved, loved
(34:14):
blueberries in college. Like I still love them. But I
was just going through some kind of phase. Alright, Sure,
they called me blueberry, they called you blueberry, they called
me blueberry, and I do love blueberry muffins and I
do love Harry Potter recipes. So this sounds wonderful. Oh yeah, yes, uh,
Julie wrote in Your Muffin episode, I heard Annie wonder
(34:35):
aloud about what the muffins sales are like at Duncan
or Starbucks. As your friendly neighborhood Starbucks barista, I can
certainly chip in here. Our poor blueberry muffins are one
of our least popular bakery items, and if anything is
left over at the end of the day, it's going
to be one of those forlorn blueberry muffins. They're actually
pretty good as far as muffins are concerned, especially warm,
(34:57):
But if we sell a muffin, it's usually to a
regular customer who always buys a muffin. If you ever
decide to try our Starbucks muffin, it goes well with
a nice dark roast. The Italian blend is my current favorite,
or with a latte. Definitely order it heated up though.
The crunchy sugar topping really completes the pleasantly warm muffin. Oh,
muffin tips, right, Oh, I love a muffin tip, thank you.
(35:23):
I know, warm blueberry muffin. I feel sad for the
forlorn muffins, all I know. Right, I'm definitely like a
anthropomorphizing those muffins and be like in a way that
I'm like, oh, poor the guys. I'd have to eat them.
I know, it's an odd intersection to be at. Yeah,
(35:47):
it makes sense, right, I remem writing that Featurama episode
where they're like those super cute little creatures but they
eat them like nuggets. Oh yeah, I wish you listeners
could see the look Lauren as on our face. It's
like wistful, like yes, I would eat that very cute muffin,
(36:10):
I would totally eat that adorable tiny creature. Well, on
that note, thanks to both of those the listeners were
writing in. If you would like to write to us
and we would love to hear from you, our email
is hello at savor pod dot com. We're also on
social media. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram,
(36:31):
where our handle is at savor pod and yes, we
do hope to hear from you. Savor is a production
of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts for my heart Radio,
you can visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Thank you,
as always to our superproducers Dylan Fagin and Andrew Howard.
Thanks to you for listening, and we hope that lots
more good things are coming your way.
Hello, and welcome to Savor production of I Heart Radio.
I'm Annie Reese and I'm Lauren voc Obam and today
we're talking about mustard. Yes, yes, yes. I was like, Lauren,
it's your birthday. We could do anything. What do you
want to do? And you said mustard And I love
that so much. I was thinking like some type of
cake or whatever. No, no, mustard, mustard. So happy birthday, Lauren.
(00:35):
Thank you. I will get you something else other than
letting you choose the topic for our work thing that
we do together. Oh yeah, well that's unnecessary but very kind.
Thank you. You are welcome. You're welcome. I too love mustard.
I love all types of mustard. Um one of my favorites.
(00:55):
We have a local mustard here in Atlanta, and I
love which what I haven't We have a local mustard,
which one we do. It's so it's from a company
called Do South and then then that X and they
have three types. They have drunken mustard, creole mustard, and
spicy mustard. And there there's like really thick grainy ones.
(01:17):
Yeah I love I love a whole grain mustard. Yeah,
I really love the stuff that that the Brickstore pub
down indicator makes Um, they've got a great house mustard,
also a whole grain mustard. Um. I just like mustard.
It's my favorite condiment. I think it goes on and
in pretty much everything savory anyway. Um, yeah, I it's
(01:40):
probably up there for me as well. And ever since
we've done this episode of the research for it, I've
been using so much mustard that I already have gotten through.
I've got like four types and I've gone through one
and a half. O. Wow, Dan, that is a lot
of mustard. Yeah. My my grainy kind is gone and
my Dijon is halfway there. For there, I'm gonna have
(02:00):
to rash it a bit perhaps. Oh yeah, yeah, because
you're you're taking those those long, long rests in between
grocery trips. Yes, as I was telling Lauren, my current
concern is my coffee supply. This is also my concern
because I just I'm like anxious for you. I'm like
thinking about like, I'm like, do I know which window
(02:21):
is Annie's? Can I like, can I just like like
throw a bag of coffee beans like at her window?
I guess it would have to be open, but maybe
it would. I don't know. Anyway, I promise. I'm not
gonna like John kusak you with coffee, but unless you
want that, I mean, it might be the happiest day
of my life if I just got a random thing
of coffee thrown in my window. Would be pretty great,
(02:45):
to be honest, I'll keep you posted, Okay. I really
appreciate the thought and concern because it's coffee, as you know,
is a very serious thing. It certainly is. What else
is a serious thing, apparently is everyone has very strong
opinions about where mustard should and should not go, particularly
with hot dogs. I guess um. I was just reminded
(03:10):
of that ridiculous blow up around the time when President
Obama got a cheeseburger and he asked for spicy mustard
or a Dijon mustard. Everyone was like, fancy mustard? What's
he doing? That doesn't belong there? How an American to
ask for Dijon mustard like that sounds pretty good, to
be right. That's delicious. Mustard goes on your cheeseburger. That's great,
(03:34):
especially ane creamy dijon. Come on, I know, I know,
but people have got opinions. They certainly do, and being
one of them, I suppose I support that. Well, let
us get to a question, mustard. What is it? Well,
(03:58):
Mustard is the name of a group of condiments and
the plants that those condiments are made from. Those plants
are mostly in the genuses Brassica and Snappis, and both
of these are in the Brassicassier family, which we have
talked about a lot before. Turnips, rugula, radish, with sabi, kale, cauliflower,
all our cousins. Yes, yeah, I had no idea, and
(04:23):
I it all makes sense now, um because as with
as with all of these cousins, mustard plants have evolved
to create these compounds that we experience as as pungent
or or spicy hot on our tongue and sometimes in
our mucous membranes to um, and those compounds evolved to
discourage animals and like even microbes from eating those plants.
(04:44):
But like suckers, humans decided that we like that burn.
Oh I love the bird, love it, love it. Mm
hmmm uh. In mustard plants, those compounds are concentrated in
the seeds, and mustard are kind of weedy flowering plants
that they'll grow to about three feet or bottom meter
(05:04):
tall and put off these small flowers, usually yellow um,
that if pollinated, will produce long, skinny seed pods containing
a number of small seeds ranging in color from white
to brown to black. And these seeds just sitting there
minding their own seed business, um, actually don't contain any
(05:25):
spicy compounds. Those compounds are only formed when the seeds
are crushed and mixed with water through the release and
activation of enzymes that the seeds contain when they are
thus treated. And evolutionarily, this makes perfect sense because you
know animals mouths contain saliva, which contains water. So when
you chew up the seeds, the plant by creating these
(05:48):
these spicy compounds, that this enzyme action is saying, hey, hey,
hey stop that. Stop that don't know bad um. But
if you swallow the seeds whole, that's fine like for
the plant. Preferable even because you might then pass the
seeds whole and unharmed through your digestive system and thus
spread the seeds out into the greater world for that
(06:08):
plant to better reproduce in other places. Mm hmmm. So anyway, Um,
the that burn will only last as long as the
enzymes are doing their thing, um, and they'll start wearing
out after about fifteen minutes. So um, Why then, is
prepared mustard from seeds that have been crushed weeks for
(06:29):
or months ago? Uh still spicy? Well? Uh. If you
introduce an acid to the mix, like say vinegar, it
will preserve those spicy compounds and it will also inhibit
further spiciness from from developing. Um. And that's why prepared
mustards tend to contain vinegar, because it both preserves the
flavor and makes it a bit more mild than what
(06:50):
you'd get if you added, say like alcohol to the mix,
which would produce a very spicy spice. Yes. Yes, So
to make the condiment mustard, you grow ender, crush mustard seeds,
and mix that with water and acid and probably some
seasonings and or preservatives like salt and sugar, forming anything
from a thick paste to a to a thick, if
(07:11):
porable liquid, depending on you know what you're going for.
White mustard seeds are a little more mild due to
the type of compounds that they create and tend to
only hit your tongue with a spice. Brown and black
mustards hit your mouth and sinuses as well. Um, And
and with those it tends to be a good slow burn.
I love it. I love it. I had a very
intense mustard burning sensation last night. Oh yeah, yeah, yes,
(07:36):
oh it was good. But uh yeah, there was a
definitely in the nose. I could feel like quite a while.
It'll it'll get up in there. It's true. Um, you can.
You can also grind mustard seeds into flour and uh
use it less for its bite than for its other
sort of like bitter sulfury flavors and its colors, and
(07:57):
and furthermore, it's excellent emulsifying and thickening properties because ground
mustard helps oil and water play nice. Uh So it's
a great addition to any sauce or dressing that you
want to prevent from separating and also help thicken up
a bit. Um. I use it in my salad dressing
just like oil and uh balsamic or or lemon juice
(08:18):
and some some whole grain mustard, honey, salt, and pepper.
Mix it up in a jar. So good, so simple.
Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing. It is. What else
is amazing? The name mustard derives from the Latin mustard,
meaning burning must And if that isn't an axe body spray,
(08:39):
then what the hell are we even doing here? That
is unacceptable? Axe body spray call us you have some
splanning to do? I think, uh. Yeah. And and must
that um that must is uh isn't isn't must is
in is in like animalistic must. It's mustard in a
(09:01):
grape must as an unfermented juice from crushed grapes, as
in wine making. Um. Ancient Roman recipes called for mixing
ground seeds of the plant, which were then called snappis um,
with grape must. So m hmm, burning must burning must
(09:21):
really does take you someplace? It does? It does? Uh?
You can you can also eat mustard greens. Um. They're
they're they're mildly spicy um, either in salads if they're
a little bit younger, or if they're they're slightly older,
tougher greens. You might want to cook them the way
that you would collards or kale or or spinach. Yeah. Um.
(09:43):
And ground mustard meal from which that the oil has
been removed for other purposes, is also used in farming um,
like in soils to help control pests and microbial growth. UM.
And also in the cosmetics industry. Huh all right, yeah, well,
what about the nutrition. This is normally where I say, like,
(10:05):
you're not really eating enough of a condiment to get
a nutritive property from it. But in my case, I
think that's a lie anyway, So I concur uh So.
So it does depend, of course, on on how you
prepare it, what you put into it. Um. But but
mustard is a pretty great addition to your diet because
(10:25):
it's a it's a low calorie, high flavor condiment that
contains like like a like a little bit like good
fats and protein and dietary fiber and lots of minerals. Um.
It's it's pretty great for you. I mean, don't eat
a whole lot. Don't don't eat too much mustard guys.
Like as with any seed, it's it's going to block
(10:47):
your stuff up and you're not gonna you're not gonna
like it. Yeah. But yeah, in general general yeah. Um.
And Furthermore, mustard has been used medicinally for pretty much
ever externally and internally for everything from like snake bites
to arthritis to bronchitis to the bubonic plague. It's and
(11:08):
it is being investigated for all kinds of things. But
as with anything, human bodies are complicated. More research is
necessary before introducing a medicinal quantity of anything into your diet.
Consulted doctor. Ah, there you go. The saver slogan. Ye slogan.
(11:29):
It's a very long and boring slogan. It's not the catchiest,
but it is the best in terms of what we're
trying to say. Yes, you have some numbers for you. Yes. Um.
Mustard is one of the most popular condiments in the world.
(11:50):
In the United States, it is the most popular hotdog
topping as well. It should be um strong opinion about
that one. Um uh. And it is apparently as a
as a spice, the second most used spice in the
United States after only peppercorn. Wow. Right. As of the
(12:10):
nineteen nineties, France consumed the most mustard per person per year,
about one and a half pounds per person per year,
which is about point seven kilos um, which sounds like
a lot, but it also doesn't sound like a lot.
I'm like, oh, yeah, no, I go through that. That's sure. Yeah. Um.
I couldn't find more recent numbers though, so I'm not sure.
I don't know, like, maybe I'm tipping scales. Maybe you're like,
(12:30):
it's like that seed in mulan one food podcaster can
tip the scales. Yeah. Um, I was thinking about this
because I was kind of surprised that France was so
high up there. But then I went on a very
fun rabbit hole where people were arguing about whether or
not mustard counts as a sauce. Oh yeah, yeah, it's
(12:53):
it's an ingredient in in in sauces too, so yeah,
right right, and it's all that it's like marinated chicken
and cold salads and stuff. But it was just really
funny to hear people get so about whether or not
mustard is a sauce and if it is, does it
count as a traditional sauce or not? Oh gosh. If
I'm not gonna that's that's beyond that. That's about my
(13:16):
pay grade. My hands are raised in the surrender position.
I defer to people who have more knowledge about sauces
and French sauces. Um. So, okay, there's National Mustard Day,
which is yes, August first, but it is often celebrated
on the first Saturday of August, which really confused me
(13:37):
because I kept finding different dates. Okay, but um, it's
particularly the National Mustard Museum and Middleton, Wisconsin. They celebrate
it on the first Saturday. I believe they were the
ones that made this happen to I think they're behind
National Mustard And this sounds like if anyone has been
to the National Mustard Museum in Middleton, Wisconsin, UM, please
(14:01):
write in and let us know. It sounds like a
place of wonder and merriment. Um. They've got over fifty
six hundred mustards in their collection, originating from all fifty
states and over seventy other countries. It's a thing of beauty.
I I never dared to dream, Annie, and now you know,
(14:25):
dreams can come true. They can. Um. Yeah. I And
I found their website very charming. It very much made
me want to go. And it also kind of cucks
me up that it's in Wisconsin, because I do feel
like it's a big mustard place. Yeah yeah, yeah, you know,
(14:48):
um it's got some of those the influence from areas
that are big un mustard. So I yeah, love it,
love it, love every part of it. Yes, um. And
they there are so many types of mustard that we
tried to We were talking about this before we started recording,
get to the bottom of like if you've got honey
mustard and you've got English mustard and Creole mustard, German mustard,
(15:11):
which a lot of articles just rolled their eyes out
because that is apparently way too big a category. It
could mean anything, it could mean anything. Um. So you've
got a whole world of mustards out there, so I
can see why the Mustard Museum, the National Mustard Museum,
excuse me, thank you, thank you, Annie the respect, give
(15:34):
the respect that is due, has so many different types
of mustards. Ah. Here is a quote, um that I
loved from Mustard a Global History by Goose Dimmitt. Mustard
is more than a condiment. It is the embodiment of
civilization because the story of mustard is the story of medicine,
(15:54):
myth and magic, myth and magic, myth and magic. Yes, okay,
all right, well I'll be sure to include more mustard
in our D and D sessions from that long. That
is true. That is a failing on me. I have
not other than any mustard. You know. I think everyone's
(16:16):
been been trying to find a way to tell you
that's fair. I can't believe it took me this long.
You know, my original plot uh and I had to
scrap it because I was like, this is a one shot. Essentially,
what I've written was a whole food based revenge plot
that involved a fancy meal that went terribly awry and
(16:37):
everybody had like these PTSD memories of this meal that
went so wrong. Yeah, but that the character who was
going to be leading that whole thing ended up being
on an US. Uh, it lives on in the current campaign.
All right, well, that's good, that's good. I'm glad, um.
But if you recall she got fired for a food
(16:59):
incident her restaurant g the Huff Up Grub that she
worked at. Now that you mentioned it, I do remember that.
My it's full of easter eggs that no one gets
literally and there's no way they would but me. That's
I'm glad that you're keeping yourself entertained. That is really
(17:21):
mission critical, honestly, So like Bravo, I'm just chuckling it
to myself, like not us, they don't know this. I
that that was one that when you introduced her, I did.
I did chuckle because ane of us is uh one
(17:43):
of the words for pineapple, and you described her as
being a gnome that had kind of like pineapple reminiscent
hair going on, looks like a pineapple. Yeah, so so
I I laughed. I mean I laugh at everything, but
like I feel like everyone around the table was why
is Lauren laughing now? And I was like, it's pineapple,
(18:04):
it's anyway, like damn anyway. You wouldn't understand. This is
our our regular check in on our ridiculous D and
D journeys. You are welcome, Yeah, yeah, indeed, but yes,
(18:24):
we must return to mustard. We we must return to mustard.
We're going to get into the history here, but first
we're going to take a quick break for a word
from our sponsor, and we're back. Thank you, sponsor, Yes,
(18:45):
thank you. The different varieties of mustard used in the
condiment mustard probably originated all over, white mustard in the Meterranean,
brown mustard in the Himalayas, and black mustard in the
Middle East and or parts of Asia. The greens most
likely originated in China or Japan. Uh. Some sources suggest
that according to ancient Sumerian and Indian text, people were
(19:08):
eating mustard all the way back to three thousand BC,
and by some accounts they were grinding it with a
liquid to make paste. I don't know. I was very
confused by the timeline of that, because some people very
much pushed that. But then it was like, but the
first time it was made into a condiment was not then,
and it confused me. Yes, maybe it's like the whole
(19:30):
sauce thing of who what makes it a condiment questions.
In its early days, mustard was viewed as a primarily
medicinal item. For instance, ancient Greek scientists Pythagoras recommended mustard
as a remedy for scorpion stinks scorpion stinks in the
(19:54):
sixth century b c. E. I will say, growing up
in the South, did you ever do the thing where
you you put your shoe, you put your foot in
the shoe, and then the scorpions in there, and then, um,
there weren't a lot of scorpions in uh In in
South Florida. I think it's a little bit too wet
for them or just not not the not the right
condition in one way or another. But I do know
(20:17):
plenty of humans. I visited people in Texas, um and
I've talked to cousins down in the islands where yeah,
they'll they'll be like, oh yeah, yeah, watched watch your shoes.
Always shake out your shoes, and like it is a
rite of passage. You've got to do it. I remember
my cousin. He was kind of sheltered, and when he
(20:37):
was like eight or nine, he came to stay with
us for the first time, and I traumatized him. I
was like telling him about the scorpions and you better watch.
And then I went to hear the sound of the cicadas.
He called his parents and he left. Oh my god,
two hours. Oh my gosh. Oh I love the sound
of the cicada's. Anyway, they freaked him out. That so
(21:02):
back to by baggers and scorpion steaks. That was sixth
century BC. Hippocrds utilize mustard and poultices and other medicines
for the treatment of all kinds of things, and fifth
century BC, particularly like for your teeth, um hm. The
tombs of ancient Egyptian pharaohs were stocked with mustard seeds
to accompany them on their journey to the afterlife. Yeah,
(21:25):
one of the things they found in a king tut
In commons too, m hmm. And mustard may well be
one of our first condiments. The history of it does
go way back, at least all the way back to
ancient Rome before the arrival of pepper to Europe. They
would take the mustard seeds and then when they would
grind them up with wine or grape must um, sometimes
(21:45):
with the addition of honey, vinegar, and or other spices
to make a paste for eating. Plenty mentioned it and
described a recipe of crushing the seeds in vinegar. The
condiment spread throughout Europe. The seeds were often planted in
or near vineyards, and it became particularly popular in Germany
and France. By the ninth century, French monasteries were cultivating
(22:08):
and selling mustard. It was commercially available in century Paris
at least by then. A century earlier, mustard made its
way to England. Because it was cheap to grow and
to make, it was one of the few condiments pretty
accessible to everyone in Europe, of all classes. It did
go on to become associated with the poor during medieval
(22:30):
times when more expensive spices started to be imported into Europe.
Um and so it was soon as you're still using
mustard exactly, oh, humans, it tastes gread what yeah, Because
the small mustard seed can grow into something big and strong.
(22:51):
It was used in parables in the Bible, though and
I this was a rabbit hole. I also loved Some
people argue about the interpretation of the mustard seed as
a blessing or a warning that I can grow unchecked.
I actually need to watch out for the mustard seed. Okay, yeah,
(23:13):
I recommend if that's a fun theological wealth maybe fun.
It is just my If theological debates about mustard in
the Bible is something that interests you, I recommend it um.
In either case, the mustard seed was adopted as a
symbol in Christianity to the point that an official position
mustard maker to the Pope was created by Pope John
(23:37):
and the first person to hold this post was his nephew, who,
by most accounts he maybe didn't love mustard that much.
The pope he just wanted his nephew to do something
and thought he won't mess this up. Yeah, I think he.
I think he noted that that that it was his
idol nephew, not as in American idol, but and like
(24:00):
like sitting around ideally Yeah yeah, so, uh, mysteries history
on that one. But either case, the position was created,
his nephew got it. His nephew was from Dijon, where
mustard grew well. And speaking of let's talk about Dijon
and specifically Gray Poupon. By the twelve hundreds, Dejon, France
(24:25):
was already known for its mustard production inter Mares Gray
and Antoine Poupon, who introduced gray Poupon in the seventeen seventies.
Uh yeah, I know right. They were also the first
to use an automatic mustard making machine. And the original
storefront is still there. I don't know that you can
go in, but it's still there. Um. If anyone's been,
(24:47):
let us know when other spices became more affordable. At
the beginning of the eighteenth century, mustard experienced a dent
in popularity, but a new innovation and mustard changed that.
In eighteen fifty six, Jean Nagon swapped out the vinegar
and mustard for their juice, which is the acidic liquid
(25:07):
of unripe grapes, and voila Dijon mustard. Yeah. Stepping back
a bit, Mustard balls were a popular snack in fifteenth
and sixteenth century England. I wanted these that they were
dried balls of mustard, flour and cinnamon. Yeah. Shakespeare even
(25:27):
mentioned them in one of his works. Yeah. Queen Victoria
appointed another big name and mustard Jeremiah Coleman of Coleman's
Mustard of England as her official mustard maker in eighteen
sixties six official mustard maker. In his technique, the seeds
were finally ground into a powder without generating oil releasing heat,
(25:49):
so it preserved the oil and the flavor. Another royal
fan of mustard French King Louis the eleventh, who reportedly
carried a jar of it wherever he went so he
would never be without it, like they did provide it
on the table. He's got mustard in his bag, He's
got lusted. A popular but most likely apocryphal story goes
(26:16):
that Benjamin Franklin brought mustard from France to the US
and he was the US ambassador to France. I don't know,
I really only it seems that that's just a popularly
told story. Yeah, I feel like any number of like
Eastern European German French immigrants would have brought it over
at any number of times, So I know it doesn't
(26:38):
track with pretty much every other episode we've done where
and if it's from Europe, anyone from Europe brought things
they liked to the US when they came. Like the
phrase cut the mustard seems to be American in origin,
first appearing in writing in a Galveston, Texas newspaper in
(26:59):
the for Mentions of the toxic properties of sulfur mustard
started appearing in the eighties. The first known attempts to
produce large quantities of mustard sulfur took place in six
and this eventually led to the mustard chills used in
World War One. But but this is not related to
mustard plants. Um sulfur mustard or nitrogen mustard are so
(27:24):
named for them for the kind of smell that they
produced in the kind of and then the burning effects
of course that they're known for. So so yeah, so
so same name, totally separate unrelated compounds um and mustard gas. Though,
as I was trying to figure all of this out, um,
I found the fascinating article about how mustard gas um
(27:46):
and and it is really a very terrible um form
of chemical warfare. It also led to the development, though
of the first chemotherapy for cancer. That yeah, yeah, different,
different show, um, I think, yes, very much, but but
really interesting, yes, so yellow mustard. Yellow mustards popularity started
(28:08):
to rise in the US in the early nineteen hundreds
and this was mostly due to the nineteen o four
Saint Louis World Fair, where the RT French Company yes
that's French, huh, introduced the world to a hot dog
served with yellow mustard, so called American mustard. Now the
(28:31):
color actually comes from a tumeric, so mustard yellow? Is
it quite accurate? I mean, I still agree the mustard
itself is yellow. So I don't know. A lot of
people were very adamant that the phrase is incorrect. I mean,
I guess when you get down to what the word
mustard means, like great mustard, so that it's all incorrect.
(28:54):
We are all incorrect, always with the hard hitting but
wise true floren So what I'm here for perfect? George
French Um of the French Company experimented with tumeric to
add something both flavor and color. Wise worked. Oh, I
(29:17):
love this, okay. Apparently in the early twentieth century, calling
someone mustard was the equivalent of saying they were great. Okay.
I tried to look into this, Um, and gosh, I
I so. I think the idea here was that, you know,
mustard enhances flavor, So if something is mustard or maybe
like the mustard, you're the mustard then it's good. I couldn't.
(29:41):
I couldn't really find I had a I had a
really hard time finding um examples of this in the vernacular. Um,
although I did find a quote from Oh Henry's Cabbages
and Kings from four um he wrote, I'm not headlined
in the bills, but I'm the mustard in the salad
dressing just the same. Oh. I like that. Yeah, yeah,
(30:07):
so so I'm not sure. I'm not sure exactly how
it was used, but I adore everything about this. I know.
I want to bring it back so badly. It's going
to confuse some people for a minute, but I think
we can do it. I think, well, I think I
think it'll catch on. Yeah, m hmmm. What else. It
seems like a perfectly good use of quarantine time is
(30:28):
to get mustard to catch online. American farmers started growing
more mustard around World War Two, when supply chains from
from Europe were affected. Um and uh, and we are
still one of the leading producers of of mustard now yes, yes.
In Gray Poupon debuted their fancy Rolls Royce commercial touting
(30:54):
their product as one of the finer things in life.
And it worked. It very much works. And sales went
way up. It's supposed to be like, you know, maybe
you can't afford the roles of Royce, but you can
afford to spend a little bit more mustard. You can
afford the extra buck or two on your on your
fancy mustard. Yeah all right, yeah. Um it was apparently
(31:17):
a big enough deal to appear in multiple Bustard timelines
I found, so I thought i'd include it continue the trend.
I did want to say here, Um, as we sort
of mentioned earlier, there are a lot of types of mustard,
and we did try to get to the bottom of
honey mustard and English mustard and when did all these
(31:41):
things originate, But there wasn't much information out there other
than probably it originated here around at this time, but
it was still very vague. Yeah, yeah, I think that,
I think it. In order to really dig out some
of that, we would have to just do profiles on
different companies that were producing mustard, which could be fascinating. Um,
(32:02):
it could be, but yeah, yeah, hard hard to say
from a from from an overall product standpoint. Yes, I did.
I feel like a honey mustard was a nineteen twenties
forties thing. It was a salad dressing urginally and it
was sweeter for American sweet tooth. M makes sense, I
(32:25):
mean like things like creole mustard also to me, just
makes sense that if you have this thing, you would
kind of make it fit your own region, or like
add the spices of your own region, or should taste
cater to those things. So if any of listeners have
any information specific mustard information, oh, yes, yes, yes, please
(32:46):
send it our way. And speaking of we do have
some listener mail for you, we do. But first we've
got one more quick break for a word from our sponsor,
and we're back. Thank you, sponsor, Yes, thank you, And
(33:08):
we're back with listen celebrating Lauren, you know, and mustard
both and listener yes always yes. Kelly wrote, I just
listened to your muffin episode last night. I remembered something
(33:30):
I think you would enjoy quite a bit. Annie mentioned
her chocolate chip muffin recipe with sour cream in the batter.
There is an excellent blueberry muffin recipe also made with
sarah cream, on page seventy seven of the Unofficial Harry
Potter Cookbook by Dina Bocolts. It's probably very similar to
the recipe you already have, but knowing you're a big
HP fan, I thought i'd recommend the book as lots
(33:52):
of fun recipes with tie ends to the Potter verse.
I hope it brings a smile. Yes, it does. I
probably had this on the show for some reason. I
am somebody who I guess it's because I'm really passionate
about things. I get a lot of nicknames, and one
of my nicknames is blueberries, because I love, loved, loved
(34:14):
blueberries in college. Like I still love them. But I
was just going through some kind of phase. Alright, Sure,
they called me blueberry, they called you blueberry, they called
me blueberry, and I do love blueberry muffins and I
do love Harry Potter recipes. So this sounds wonderful. Oh yeah, yes, uh,
Julie wrote in Your Muffin episode, I heard Annie wonder
(34:35):
aloud about what the muffins sales are like at Duncan
or Starbucks. As your friendly neighborhood Starbucks barista, I can
certainly chip in here. Our poor blueberry muffins are one
of our least popular bakery items, and if anything is
left over at the end of the day, it's going
to be one of those forlorn blueberry muffins. They're actually
pretty good as far as muffins are concerned, especially warm,
(34:57):
But if we sell a muffin, it's usually to a
regular customer who always buys a muffin. If you ever
decide to try our Starbucks muffin, it goes well with
a nice dark roast. The Italian blend is my current favorite,
or with a latte. Definitely order it heated up though.
The crunchy sugar topping really completes the pleasantly warm muffin. Oh,
muffin tips, right, Oh, I love a muffin tip, thank you.
(35:23):
I know, warm blueberry muffin. I feel sad for the
forlorn muffins, all I know. Right, I'm definitely like a
anthropomorphizing those muffins and be like in a way that
I'm like, oh, poor the guys. I'd have to eat them.
I know, it's an odd intersection to be at. Yeah,
(35:47):
it makes sense, right, I remem writing that Featurama episode
where they're like those super cute little creatures but they
eat them like nuggets. Oh yeah, I wish you listeners
could see the look Lauren as on our face. It's
like wistful, like yes, I would eat that very cute muffin,
(36:10):
I would totally eat that adorable tiny creature. Well, on
that note, thanks to both of those the listeners were
writing in. If you would like to write to us
and we would love to hear from you, our email
is hello at savor pod dot com. We're also on
social media. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram,
(36:31):
where our handle is at savor pod and yes, we
do hope to hear from you. Savor is a production
of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts for my heart Radio,
you can visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Thank you,
as always to our superproducers Dylan Fagin and Andrew Howard.
Thanks to you for listening, and we hope that lots
more good things are coming your way.
Savor News
Hosts And Creators
Anney Reese
Lauren Vogelbaum
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