Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Sunday Spices - Mustard










Somehow we never really touched mustard in my house growing up. I was always scared that it was too strong, or something, and so it has arrived on my palette/plate rather later than really it should have. We ate plenty of pork, ham and hot dogs over the years, and I must raise a teaspoon to all those meals that might have been enlivened by the addition of a little bit of mustard!

I think I first must have tasted it in Eddie Rockett's on their burger, with its delicious house sauce. (The sauce is really only mayonnaise with a bit of mustard thrown in, but regardless, it's phenomenal.) This prompted me to go looking for other ways to get the flavour, or the sauce, and now I'm quite a fan. I definitely was treated to some amazing applications when, late at night, MS would order deliveries of astonishingly good souvlaki and things to her elegant apartment in Athens. Mustard makes everything sing! It's brilliant for marinating meats, dressing salads, or as a dip for sweet potato fries, or a sauce for hot dogs, but truly its finest application yet was in the sandwich I had last Sunday from Bay Cities in Santa Monica.

My current boss cut a swathe directly through the huge crowd of people and marched straight up to the counter, where there was a basket of ready-made hot sandwiches. (The crowd were all having theirs made to order, but PK knew better!) I am still quite a novice in the world of deli-based eating, but these sandwiches were remarkably put together - wonderful bread, excellent cuts of meat piled very high within, and then just enough mustard to make the whole arrangement sing without scorching one's mouth. Add in some Pellegrino and a few very fresh mini-macaroons, and you have a pretty spectacular lunch.

Got any mustard recipes that I should try?!

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