History of Black MustardBlack mustard or Brassica nigra is native to the Mediterranean region, where it is reported as a fossil from prehuman Pleistocene time. The species probably joined Neolithic agriculture as a volunteer in wheat and barley fields, spreading with those crops through Eurasia and North Africa.
Millennia later, Brassica nigra went with those crops oversea, its seeds often carried accidentally with the cereal grain. In California, for example, it was a weed during the Spanish period and remains are common in adobe bricks of the early mission.
Like other mustards Brassica nigra is used as a green vegetable and as a source of mild tasting nonvolatile oil expressed from the seed. However, its main use has been as a spice. Use of mustard seed as a spice dates from the beginning of written history in Babylonia and India and is abundantly recorded in classical Greek, Roman, and biblical sources. Although other species of Brassica were also used, it seems likely that Brassica nigra was the main source in ancient history as it has been in modern history.
Traditionally, mustard is prepared by mixing a small amount of seed of white mustard Sinapis alba, other spices, and a lot of Brassica nigra seed. In ancient times, volunteer plants wee probably more than adequate without deliberate planting. Cultivation of Brassica nigra as a field crop came after Medieval times, along with commercial production in Düsseldorf, Dijon and a few other European towns.History of Black Mustard
