Well Known to the Ancients, but More in a Medicinal Way--How Cultivated
and Prepared for Commercial Uses
Mustard was well known to the ancients, but more in a medicinal way
than dietetic. From an edict of Diocletian, 30 A. D., in which it
is mentioned along with alimentary substances, we must suppose it
was then regarded as a condiment, at least in the eastern parts of
the Roman empire. In Europe, during the middle ages, mustard was a
valued accompaniment to food, especially with the salted meats which
constituted a large portion of the diet of our ancestors during
the winter. In the Welsh “Meddygon Myddrai” of the 13th century, a
paragraph is devoted to the “Virtues of Mustard.” In household accounts
of the 13th and 14th centuries, mustard is of constant occurrence; it
was then cultivated in England, but not extensively. The price of the
seed between 1285 and 1340 varied from 1s 3d to 6s 8d per quarter (21
lbs.), but between 1347 and 1376 it was as high as 15s and 16s. In the
accounts of the Abbey of St. Germain des Pres in Paris, 800 A. D.,
mustard is specially mentioned as a regular part of the revenue of the
convent lands.
The essential oil of mustard was first noticed in 1660 by Nicolas le
Febre and more distinctly in 1732 by Boerharroe.
The word mustard comes from the Italian, murtard, which is derived from
the Latin must-um, unfermented grape juice, with which the Italians
formerly mixed ground mustard. The Athenians called it napy; while
the Hellenistic name was sinapi, or sinapy, whence the Latin sinapi,
or sinapis, from which is derived the German word senf. Hippocrates
used mustard in medicine under the name of Vanuit. The dark seed, which
comes from Trieste, Austria, is called Trieste mustard. Spoken of by
Theophnastus, Galin and others. What is called French mustard, German
mustard, etc., is made of the dressings mixed with vinegar, garlic and
other spices and flavoring musterial. The form in which table mustard
is now sold dates from 1720, about which time Mrs. Clements, of Durham,
Eng., hit on the idea of grinding the seed in a mill and sifting the
flour from the husk. This bright yellow farina rapidly attained wide
popularity. The fame of “Durham Mustard” was spread far and wide, Mrs.
Clements traveling to London and principal cities twice a year taking
orders.
There are two species of mustard plants from which ground mustard is
made. The sinapes alba, white or yellow mustard, and sinapes nigra,
brown or black mustard, is the mustard plant spoken of in Luke XIII,
19. They are annual herbs, three to 6 ft. high, with lyrate leaves,
yellow flowers, and slender pods, from one to four inches long,
containing a single row of roundish seeds.
One of the peculiarities incident to the cultivation of mustard is the
fact that two crops of mustard cannot be raised on the same ground
in succession. Another variety is sinapes arvenus, or wild mustard,
called charlock and used for adulterating; the Sarepta, the black seed
of the sinapes juncea, from the East Indies, is used for the same
purpose. Sarepta is called from a city of that name in Russia, in the
government of Saratov.
The brown or black variety is sown in January and the yellow or white
in March, the seed being sown broadcast and harvested in August. A
reaper is used, cutting the stalks and throwing them in bunches, where
they are left to cure until October. They are now thoroly dry and are
taken to a convenient place, spread out upon sheets of canvas and
rolled with a heavy roller. The stalks and empty pods are then raked
off, and the chaff and seeds remaining are run thru a fanning machine,
after which process they are ready to sack and market.
There are two processes in use in making ground mustard. In the first,
the seeds, white or black, or mixed, are ground to powder and then
put thru an elaborate course of siftings. The product left after the
first sifting is called “dressings” and that which passes thru is pure
mustard flour. This mustard flour is again run thru a finer sieve, and
so on until the required fineness is obtained. From the dressings left
after the different sievings, the essential oil of mustard is expressed.
In the other method, the oil is first extracted from the seeds by
hydraulic pressure, which leaves a sort of cake. This cake is then
broken up and pounded in a mortar. It is then sifted, that going thru
the sieve being a kind of bolted mustard flour. The remaining bran
is then mixed with an equal quantity of wheat flour, one per cent of
cayenne and sufficient turmeric to give the proper color. This is
pounded and treated as before, the process being continued until there
is no bran left. Then all the different siftings are mixed together,
giving a mixture of about equal proportions of mustard and wheat
flour, with the cayenne and turmeric added in proper quantities.
The peculiar pungency and odor, to which mustard owes much of its
value, are due to an essential oil developed by the action of water on
two chemical substances contained in black mustard seed; one called
sinigrin and the other myrosin. The latter substance in the presence
of water acts as a sort of ferment on the sinigrin, and it is worthy
of remark that this reaction does not take place in the presence of
boiling water and, therefore, it is not proper to use very hot water
in the preparation of mustard, cold water only should be used. White
mustard seed contains in the place of sinigrin a peculiar acrid
substance called sinalbin and also a trace of myrosin, therefore, it
possesses very little pungency and it produces a larger percentage
of flour than the black. The proper blending of these two seeds is
necessary to the production of the best mustard, as the white has the
peculiar ferment within it which develops to the highest degree the
flavor of the black.
The reason for mixing wheat flour, rice flour or other farina with
pure mustard flour is, that owing to the large amount of oil contained
in the latter it will not keep long, but turns rancid, ferments and
cakes; the added farinas by absorbing a portion of the oil retards
fermentation, decomposition and rancidity. They should not be looked
upon as adulterants, unless added in too great quantities, and the
price of the mustard should be in proportion to the added absorbents.
A mean form of adulteration is to mix gypsum and chrome yellow with the
ground mustard seed.
If upon the addition of a small quantity of iodine to ground
mustard it turns blue, it shows that starch is present. The ammonia
test will show the presence of turmeric. Every manufacturer has his
own particular formula, and consequently there are many different
qualities, both in the pure mustard and the compounds. One is composed
of 37 per cent brown and 50 per cent white mustard flour, 10 per cent
of rice flour, 3 per cent of black pepper, a little Chili pepper and
ginger.
Pure mustard oil, as pressed from the seed, is not pungent and will not
blister unless mixed with water.
The English mustard seed is the best in the world. Of this class
4,995,800 lbs. of seed and 1,307,202 lbs. of flour were imported during
the year 1908. Mustard seed and flour from Italy is known as Trieste.
In the Lompoe valley, California, some 2,500 acres are under mustard
cultivation, and a small quantity is also grown in Kentucky.
The uses of mustard are too well known to need recapitulation. D. S. F.
means double superfine.