Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Cuttin' the mustard

I like to slather a lot of mustard on my hot dogs and other sandwiches; no matter the type, yellow, spiced, or horseradish.

I remember when David, my nephew, was a young boy he would make mustard sandwiches when he came home from school and eat them outside while he played. At the time, I thought it a bit weird since he didn't bother to put anything else in the sandwich, but since then, I've come to appreciate the flavor of mustard.

On occasion when my son phones to tell me he is going to the grocery store and asks if there is anything he can get for me, I tell him I'm out of mustard and need some. He always asks what happened to the mustard he got for me a few days ago. I have to remind him that his few days ago was actually some weeks or even a month ago. He teases me about my appetite for mustard, and I have to reply that I can't let anything stand between me and my mustard.

I have no idea how mustard came into existence. Maybe cave men got tired of seasoning meat with wild onions and wild garlic and wanted something with piquant taste and started chewing combinations of wild grasses and seeds. However it happened, I use it to enhance other foods besides sandwiches. I use it in recipes for baked beans, mixed with mayo in potato salads and in various sauce recipes. In fact there are hundreds of recipes using mustard on the internet.

Incidentally, the idiom, 'cuts the mustard' refers to high standard and excellence. If someone says 'can't cut the mustard', it means failing in excellence.


Mustard Flower
Mustard Flower

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