Mustard may be the number one underappreciated condiment.
Maybe not.
All I know is I love it, and it seems to me not enough people give it its due. But I say it’s never time to cut the mustard.
But bad puns aside, I really do love mustard.
*It’s low (and sometimes No) calories.
*It’s usually got some form of tangy or vinegary kick to it.
*It tastes good on all kinds of sandwiches & burgers (in my case all vegetarian)-
*but is also good for flavoring and spicing up dishes, in the cooking or after.
*It’s also good on snacks- which could be crackers and such, but particularly on vegetables, like carrots, peppers & tomatoes, for instance.
Some of these may sound odd, but if you like mustard at all, then you should just give it a try. Don’t go into it worrying about what you think it’ll taste like, or convinced it’s too odd to be good. Just give it a good, clean shot, trying to ignore preconceptions. And if what you try doesn’t work that well, don’t give up right away, there are other foods you can use it with or on, and, more importantly-
*There are also many kinds of mustard! Many delicious kinds, and they range all over for people who prefer things more sweet, more sour, more bitter, more tangy, more spicy, more mild, and so on.
Yellow mustard kind of bores and disappoints me personally, but there’s deli mustard (brown mustard), honey mustard, dijon mustard, stone-ground/natural mustards, spicy mustard, horseradish mustard, honey dijon mustard, and these are just the common ones.
If you like spicy, there’s jalapeno and even habanero mustards. Also, horseradish mustard really has a kick, and may sound odd and harsh to some, but there are also tons of milder or sweeter ones for people searching for the other end of the spectrum; like the fruit mustards: apple mustard, apricot-ginger mustard, cranberry mustard, lemon mustard, orange and honey mustard, and pineapple and honey mustard. Or these other sweet mustards: like maple mustard, brown sugar and pecan mustard, and prickly pear honey mustard.
I wasn’t even aware of some of these until I looked up more on the internet, and of course, there are plenty more. And many of these you can find if you look a little closer at the mustards in grocery stores, and particularly in specialty grocery stores and health food or natural food stores.
For the Brave: Now if you like mustard, and you also like peanut butter, stop thinking about the combination seeming wrong. Just don’t worry about it. If you can accomplish this, and want to try something different, try making a PB & M sandwich. It may sound strange again, but I’ve done it for years, and it is delicious. You get bursts of the various flavors, and it works quite nicely, rather than being some weird disgusting clash. I would recommend not going too heavy on the mustard, and only doing it if you like both peanut butter and mustard each normally, separately. But if you can get over your trepidations, I bet you’d be surprised.
Of course, I also like to eat a lot of strange things, so who knows?
Regardless, I suggest this method of food experimenting for many things, not just mustard. Take some things you enjoy separately that it would never occur to use to mix, and just give it a shot. On a sandwich, in a bowl, in rice, in noodles, on crackers, whatever. Stop worrying about how you fear it may taste, and just taste it! I find, particularly when I mix a few or more oddball things into a dish or sandwich, that just like with the PB & M, I get these burst a varied tasty flavors, rather than a sludgy tasting mix of muck, that one might fear.
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A personal favorite: Mixing a spicy brown/deli mustard with Trader Joe’s Reduced Fat Eggless Mayonnaise creates one of the better condiments I’ve ever tasted.
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In conclusion, mustard is amazing and underappreciated. Mustard your courage, and give it more of a try.
Thanks internet,
~Matt
Seriously did not know there were so many mustards…