Artisan mustard : tradition and maximum attention

Mustard as the protagonist

Enjoying a boiled meat with mustard and some sauce prepared if necessary is a unique and unforgettable experience which in some regions of northern Italy represents real traditions. It's difficult to escape, you want the intense flavor, you want the gluttony, you want the desire to savor a dish that exudes tradition, here the mustard peeks out and chooses to become the perfect protagonist, at most it accepts the role of co-protagonist and never an extra.

Many say that once you taste it, you can hardly do without it, in fact it seems to be true, one of those popular sayings that find their dimension in a table of relatives and friends where reeling off gems of popular wisdom becomes one of many ways to create memories in the minds of the little ones, who one day will grow up and repeat the scene.

If the nostalgic streak is a little too strong, you need to return your attention to the table, sorry, to the mustard.

What, how, where and why mustard exists

The most famous is that of Cremona, a Lombard city that boasts the record for the best mustard, juiciest and suitable for various dishes, including boiled beef. There are many versions and other cities that would like to reach the podium including Mantua and Voghera.

The fact is that mustard, whether fruit or vegetable, remains a perfect ally for the Christmas holidays or for those moments to remember - see above.

In Latin it reads Mostum, in French Moutarde, in English Mustard, although the origin of the name arouses little interest, it is the composition that garners endless acclaim and insatiable mouth watering. Mostarda was created to preserve fruits and vegetables which, present on a large scale in the area, were used to preserve them in the best possible way to avoid seeing the efforts made during the harvests fade away.

Artisan mustard and details

Our dear French cousins ​​with the term Moutard, just like their distant Anglo-Saxon relatives, understand our mustard as a fruit and vegetable preserve combined with mustard, but we choose to add various ingredients ranging from mustard to sugar via honey.

With the exception of Cremona Mostarda which contains both must and mustard. The other versions made in Italy are proposed with one or the other ingredient, for example the Piedmontese, Calabrian and Sicilian versions which, based on must, completely eliminate the mustard.

However, it is fruit that can never be missing! In Mantua there is the version with Campanina apple, Vicenza chooses quince, other versions prefer vegetables among which pumpkin stands out.

Where you go, what taste you find: regional mustards

Perhaps, for Italy it would be better to say province you go, given that it has become an element capable of solving different courses and becoming the flagship in accompaniment to a simple dish of boiled meat.

Sicilian mustard

Considered a dessert, it is prepared by combining cooked must and flour starch. Some versions are enriched with cinnamon, almonds or vanilla, preserved with bay leaves in special jars and dressed to the nines. The protagonist fruit is very often prickly pears which give a touch of that exotic something so dear to the islanders.

Calabrian mustard

Pears and must for fermentation. More than a mustard, it appears as a very sweet puree used to prepare hard desserts such as tarts or used as a jam on toasted bread. Perfect on bread, divine with a nice piece of mature cheese.

Tuscan mustard

Must, organic lemon peel, rennet apples, pears, peaches and citron. The fruit cut into pieces is enriched with aromas during cooking thanks to cinnamon and cloves. Good, perhaps very good, it lends itself to savory and sweet dishes without distinction, a bit like saying that it goes well with everything.

Apulian mustard

Grapes and quinces, they are the undisputed protagonists which, boiled with water and sugar, choose to be on the podium with equal merit and quantity. During cooking they transform into a very tasty syrup which is then preserved with the addition of vine leaves and bay leaves in terracotta containers, exactly as per tradition.

Lombardy mustard

Fruit, sugar and mustard. These are the three ingredients that make up the majority of Lombardy mustards and the meticulousness of the recipe lies in the ancient traditions of the housewives of the past who chose to use fruit close to expiry and make it alive again thanks to these precious - perhaps very precious - recipe.

Piedmont mustard

Black grape must, possibly Barbera, meets pears, apples, figs and pumpkin. The spices are added later and only if you prefer dried fruit such as hazelnuts, almonds or walnuts. Tastes define the recipe, as well as family tradition.

Cremona mustard: our online variety

Various artisanal recipes choose to come to life in this prolific Lombard area. The Cremonese Mostarda "I pleasures" is enriched with a classy element such as velvet, the consistency in fact is soft and rich, thanks to the skilful cooking of the protagonist fruit.

The Cremonese Strawberry Mostarda, the Cremonese Chestnut Mostarda and the Cremonese Blueberry Mostarda are three excellences that choose to focus all their attention on the characteristics of a simple fruit.

The choice to bring a typical mustard to the table is linked to the strength of the territory and the recipe you want to repeat. Cremona remains the undisputed homeland and it is from here that all the other recipes are born. Tradition teaches, ingenuity adds or subtracts, in any case it wins!

The mustard recipe

The Traditional Cremonese Mostarda is rich in acidic and sweet fruit so as to create a perfect balance with the boiled beef. The preparation as per tradition is long and laborious, it is necessary to respect some steps that transform it from simple pieces of fruit into an indelible memory drawn in the memory.

The handbook for homemade mustard

Wash, peel and cut the fruit into pieces. Leave to macerate for 24 hours covered with sugar and mix occasionally.

Bring the mixture to the boil for at least 10 minutes, the fruit must remain quite firm. Remove the fruit and allow the liquid to thicken until it reaches a consistency similar to honey.

Add the fruit again, making sure it is completely immersed and leave to soak for another 24 hours. At this point a chemical condition is activated: osmosis, a natural fermentation process.

Dilute the mustard, and pour it into the mixture, stirring carefully so as to mix well. Wait another 24 hours and pour into sterilized jars to be stored in the dark only after having closed them hermetically.