Mean Mr. Mustard
A while back I ordered some soft pretzels at Rock Bottom Chicago and they were served with a whole-seed beer mustard. That's when I first got the idea to try to make mustard with my beer. Then I visited Düsseldorf, home of the famous Düsseldorfer Mostert. Not only did I bring home three bottles of Altbier, but I also brought back two jars of Füchschen's mustard (yes, my favorite brewpub there makes their own).Well, I finally decided to take the plunge and ordered five pounds of mustard seed--three pounds brown and two pounds yellow--from Amazon.com (which surprisingly was cheaper than eBay). Initially there are two types of mustard I'd like to try to make . . . the first is the whole-seed mustard like the one I had at Rock Bottom, and for that I found this recipe:
12 ounces stout beer [I'll likely substitute whatever homebrew I have on hand]
1 ½ cups brown mustard seeds
1 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
The second mustard I'd like to make would be a Düsseldorf-style mustard, but I can't seem to find a recipe. The best info I could find is this:
The original Düsseldorf mustard is the ABB (Adam Bernhard Bergrath) brand which used to be available only at a certain market stall here, but nowadays can also be found at a couple of high-end supermarkets located in department stores. Traditionally, it is made only with brown mustard seeds from which the oil is not extracted, as well as with verjuice instead of vinegar. Today, commercial Düsseldorf mustard is made with yellow and brown seeds, and with aromatic spirit vinegar.Is it true? I have no idea, but it sounds good to me. Anyway, for now my plan is to start simple (perhaps make four mustards--one brown seeds with vinegar, one yellow seeds with vinegar, one brown seeds with beer and one yellow seeds with beer) so I can familiarize myself with the flavors involved and then go from there. I also think I'm going to pick up a book or two on mustard to get a better idea of what goes in to various styles of mustard.
In the meantime, I figured I would post this in case anybody out there has 1.) information on Düsseldorf-style mustard and/or 2.) experience making mustard themselves. I'll definitely post recipes and results once my mustard seeds come in. Beer and mustard . . . does it get any better than that?
posted by Chibe at 9:04 PM
3 Comments:
Well, I'm certainly hopeful and curious to see if either of your mustards work out! I attempted to make the exact same whole-seed recipe a year ago and failed miserably.
(Smart of you to buy the seed in bulk. I bought mine at the grocery store and spent $30 - only to throw away the entire batch!)
Here's a helpful tip (and where I think I went wrong): When blending/grinding the soaked seeds make sure you have a large enough food processor to hold all of the liquid or use a blender. I used my 7 c. food processor, as it gets a more even puree; however, it only holds a couple cups of liquid. I lost quite a bit of my liquid (the beer I think) during the puree, which left my mustard much too vinegary.
Hope this helps!
Good to know, Meg. I'm sure I'll have plenty of mistakes of my own to write about; it's good to get at least one out of the way beforehand!
I found this recipe on the web and tried it, made a really good mustard, well worth making:
1/4 c Yellow mustard seed 2 tb Black or brown mustard seed, -heaping 1/4 c Dry mustard 1/2 c Water 1 1/2 c Cider vinegar 1 sm Onion chopped 2 tb Firmly packed brown sugar 1 ts Salt 2 Garlic gloves, minced or -pressed 1/2 ts Ground cinnamon 1/4 ts Ground allspice 1/4 ts Dried tarragon leaves 1/8 ts Turmeric
Adapted from Gift Ideas from the Kitchen In a small bowl, combine mustard seed and dry mustard. In a 1- to 2-quart non-aluminim pan, combine remaining ingredients. Simmer uncovered, on medium heat until reduced by half, 10-15 minutes. Pour the mixture into the mustard mixture. Let mixture soak at room temperature 24 to 48 hours,adding additional vinegar if neccesary in order to maintain enough liquid to cover seeds.
Process the seeds and mixture in a blender or food processor until pureed to the texture you like --this can take at least 3 or 4 minutes. Some prefer whole seeds remaining, others a smooth paste. The mixture will thicken considerably upon standing. If it gets too thick after a few days,stir in additional vinegar.
Scrape mustard into clean, dry jars; cover tightly and age at least 3 days
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