[Sca-cooks] Mustard - Can you cut it?

Cassandra Baldassano euriol at ptd.net
Fri Nov 23 16:08:40 PST 2007


I've been playing with three different mortar & pestles over the last couple
of years (marble, stone, unglazed porcelain). When I teach my sauces class,
I have a bit of mustard seed in each type. I find the best result is to
start grinding the mustard seed with  the stone mortar & pestle, then finish
it off in the unglazed porcelain to provide the finer grind.

Euriol

Euriol of Lothian, OP
Minister of Arts & Sciences, Barony of Endless Hills
Clerk, Order of the Pelican, Kingdom of Æthelmearc

"I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was
service. I acted and behold, service was joy."
-Robindranath Tagore, Poet/Playwright/Essayist 1913 Nobel Prize for
Literature

-----Original Message-----
From: sca-cooks-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org
[mailto:sca-cooks-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of Suey
Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 7:03 PM
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Mustard - Can you cut it?

Euriol wrote:

>
> After investing in a Cuisinart food
> processor, I found that it broke down the mustard seeds far better. 
>   
    Years ago a former boss speaking about poor work performance said 
he/she "could not cut the mustard." I have a hunch that phrase can be 
traced back to the medieval era.
    I am wondering to what extend the mustard was "cut" during that era. 
It would seem to me that fancy food processors are out of bounds. What 
we are after is: to what point could man breakdown mustard seeds for 
medieval sauces/flavoring?
    We are not after Durham mustard, later Coleman's which began to be 
developed in 1720 by a  Mrs. Clements of Durham, England who discovered 
how to grind the seed in a flour mill to obtain the more flavor. 
Suey

_______________________________________________
Sca-cooks mailing list
Sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/sca-cooks-ansteorra.org




More information about the Sca-cooks mailing list