The French word appeared as mostarde in th 13th century. The Viandier, 100 years later describes a ‘mustard soup’ a broth of wine and water added to the oil in which eggs have been fried and flavored ‘with a little spiced mustard’.
Black mustard was used by the ancient Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks and Romans. The first record of using prepared mustard was by the Romans.
The Romans made great use of mustard seed in medicine and they thought it one of the best remedies for the complaints of the stomach and the lungs.
After the fall of Rome, prepared mustard disappeared from Europe and subsequently the seeds were crushed on dinner plates. By the 13th century, the practice of doing prepared mustard had begin to revive, particularly in France and Germany.
In the Middle Ages, a fixture on every table, made it possible to eat the eternal salt meat - salt pork and also salt beef, goat and mutton with more relish than would otherwise have been possible.
The 18th century saw the advent of mustard with capers, with anchovies, even with champagne – ‘for the ladies’.
In 1720, a Mrs. Clement of Tewkesbury, England successfully milled mustard seed into powder, In 1804, the miller Jeremiah Colman if Norwich concocted a blended mustard from white and black seed, turmeric and flour.
In the 1930s, condiments gained new attention in America and Europe. Advertisements in women’s magazines lauded prepared mustard and sauces as a w way of spicing up otherwise ordinary meals and pleasing bored husbands.
History of mustard
