Mustard seed

Mustard has been consumed from time immemorial and has been cultivated ever since antiquity. It is an annual herb indigenous to the Mediterranean basin. Like cabbage, it belongs to the crucifer family. Known mainly for the condiment prepared from its seeds, the plan also has edible leaves—mustard greens.
There are about 40 species of mustard, the most common being black mustard.. Black mustard grows to a height of about 40 inches. It. The plant has lobed leaves that are rough and hairy and small yellow flowers (that are hardly distinguishable from blooming canola). The flowers produce smooth, rounded seeds, which turn black when ripe. Their flavor is pungent, more so than that of yellow mustard, as the seeds contain a high percentage of essential oil; the oil is used by the food industry. The seeds you are receiving were grown for the condiment market and when you chew them long enough, have quite a spicy flavor. The hot taste comes from the presence of myrosin and myronate. Myronate is found in black and Indian mustard seeds, but not in white mustard (which explains the milder flavor).
In addition to the most common use, as a condiment on hot dogs at the ballpark, mustard seed can add a spicy, aromatic rustic taste and fragrance to your meals. Add some seeds to roasts or soups, to marinades, dressings or legumes (drop some in while cooking those lentils that you received last week). The mustard seed can be consumed whole; raw, roasted or browned in very hot oil (they turn bitter if burnt). When ground into a paste, they are a good base for rubs on meats or fish. We tried grinding some to use as a condiment this weekend, but gave up too soon and used the paste on Cornish game hens. The result was good, but I’ve heard you can make some great homemade mustard with a little more elbow grease.
Prepared mustard is made from seeds, macerated in a liquid such as wine, must, vinegar, or water. The mixture is then ground to a fine paste. The color, flavor and pungency of the resulting condiment depends on the seeds used and the seasonings that are added. You can easily make your own mustard condiment by first macerating the seeds in wine, vinegar or water. Grind them into a smooth paste, adding herbs and spices such as tarragon, turmeric, garlic, pepper, paprika or any others that you prefer to give your homemade mustard its own unique taste. If you get very ambitious and need more seeds to make a few jars—just let us know!
Dijon mustard is made with verjuice (the juice of unripened vine grapes) white wine, or wine vinegar, or a combination thereof. American mustard is made with black and white mustard seeds and turmeric.
Nutritional Benefits: Mustard is said to be a stimulant, a disinfectant, digestive, antiseptic, laxative and vomitive. It promotes the secretion of gastric juices and saliva, stimulates the appetite, and if used in moderation, eases digestion. Vineyardists often grow mustard between grape vines, not just because it is beautiful, but because it wards off pests. Mustard grown as a green manure crop is also commonly grown in the Columbia Basin as a natural pesticide.
Mustard seeds are a very good source of selenium and omega-3 fatty acids. They are also a good source of phosphorous, magnesium, manganese, dietary fiber, iron, calcium, protein, niacin and zinc.
Like other Brassicas, mustard seeds contain high amounts of phytonutrients called glucosinolates. The seeds also contain myrosinase enzymes that can break apart the glucosinolates into other phytonutrients called isothiocyanates. The isothiocyanates in mustard seed (and other Brassicas) have been repeatedly studied for their anti-cancer effects.
Mustard seeds are also a very good source of selenium, which has been shown to help reduce the severity of asthma, decrease some of the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, and help prevent cancer. They also qualified as a good source of magnesium. Like selenium, magnesium has been shown to help reduce the severity of asthma, to lower high blood pressure, to restore normal sleep patterns in women having difficulty with the symptoms of menopause, to reduce the frequency of migraine attacks, and to prevent heart attack in patients suffering from atherosclerosis or diabetic heart disease.
History: Mustard seeds can be traced to different areas of Europe and Asia with the white variety originating in the eastern Mediterranean regions, the brown from the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains, and the black from the Middle East. Mustard seeds are mentioned in ancient Sanskrit writings dating back about 5,000 years ago. They are also mentioned in the New Testament in which the kingdom of Heaven is compared to a grain of mustard seed.
While mustard seeds were used for their culinary properties in ancient Greece, it seems that it was the ancient Romans who invented a paste from the ground seeds, which was probably the ancestor of our modern day mustard condiment. The physicians of both civilizations, including the father of medicine Hippocrates, used mustard seed medicinally.
Mustard seed is one of the most popular spices traded in the world today. As it grows well in temperate climates, the areas that produce the greatest amount of mustard seeds currently include Hungary, Great Britain, India, Canada and the United States.
Storage: Mustard powder and mustard seeds should be kept in a tightly sealed container in a cool, dark and dry place. Prepared mustard and mustard oil should both be refrigerated.
A few quick serving suggestions: To add flavor, sprinkle some brown, black and white mustard seeds on top of rice before serving. Dredge chicken breast in prepared mustard and whole mustard seeds and bake. Make a cold millet salad by combining the cooked and cooled grain with chopped scallions, baked tofu cubes, garden peas and mustard seeds. Dress with lemon juice and olive oil.
A Few Interesting Facts about Mustard:

Mustard plants produce about 1,000 pounds of seeds per acre.
In one year at New York's Yankee Stadium more than 1,600 gallons plus 2,000,000 individual packets of mustard are consumed.
Most of the mustard seeds used in Dijon, France are actually grown in the United States and Canada. Canada produces about 90 percent of the world's supply of mustard seeds.
Over 700 million pounds of mustard are consumed worldwide each year.
George J. French introduced his French's mustard in 1904, the same year that the hot dog was introduced to America at the St. Louis World's Fair.
The Mustard Museum is in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. It has the world's largest collection of mustards, with over 3,500 varieties.

Mustard's pungency results from Acrinyl Isothiocyanate (in Brassica hirta), Allyl Isothiocyanate (in Brassica nigra and Brassica juncea). These compounds don't actually exist in the seeds, but are formed when the seeds are broken, releasing enzymes and other compounds within the seeds to combine in the presence of some form of moisture. The temperature of the liquid, which is used to prepare the mustard, as well as its acidity, determine the heat of the mixture. Too high a temperature, or a pH that is too low, and the prepared mustard will not be hot. The enzymes responsible for the transformation are easily destroyed by heat--the seeds are ground, commercially, in a way that prevents build-up of heat from friction. In many south Indian recipes, the whole seeds are fried in hot fat, which provides, not additional spicy "heat" but, a pleasant nutty flavor. If you want the heat of mustard in a cooked dish, allow these enzymes to react first, then add the empowered product to the dish to be cooked. (An excerpt from by Gary Allen’s forthcoming book, The Herbalist in the Kitchen.)