Towerwater Dijon Mustard

My philosophy in life is that, if you cannot find an ingredient, make it. Our return to Cape Town allowed us access to fresh Norwegian salmon and other favourites. I was happy to be able to make gravadlax again. When I tried to find Dijon mustard within walking distance from where we live in Woodstock, I was surprised to discover that it was unavailable. Instead, I was offered a variety of what resembles mustard in plastic squeeze bottles.

True to nature, I started a little research on Dijon mustard. My searches always start with the historical, traditional, original, or authentic. There is still a tiny bit of purist left in me. I always start at the very beginning. Oops, now I sound more like Julie Andrews.

Apparently, we have Jean Naigeon to thank for Dijon mustard. He created this delicacy in 1752 when he substituted verjuice (the juice of unripe grapes) for vinegar in his mustard recipe.

Mustard seeds and fresh herbs in verjuice

I decided to try my hand at mustard making, and not any mustard. It had to be Dijon mustard. I did consider making a Roman mustard from a recipe believed to be about 2000 years old. It contains among other things, pine nuts and almonds.

Fermented mustard seeds

Finding the ingredients for Dijon mustard also proved to be a challenge under lockdown. I could only find yellow and black mustard seeds and verjuice is not readily available under normal circumstances. I eventually managed to find all the ingredients and decided to use a recipe for original Dijon mustard I found online, as guide.

Blending mustard seeds in an ice bath

Towerwater Dijon Mustard

Ingredients:

200g black mustard seeds (Atlas Trading, Cape Town sells them in handy 100g bags)
250ml Verjuice
1 garlic clove crushed
a few sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
½ a nutmeg grated
3 cloves
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp green peppercorns

Method:

Place the crushed garlic, fresh bay leaves and thyme in a bowl. Add the mustard seeds and cover with verjuice. Cover the bowl with clingwrap and refrigerate for 36 hours. Place the fermented mustard seeds in the freezer for 30 minutes before you blend it with a blender.

Remove the garlic, thyme and bay leaves. Grind the cloves and peppercorns in a pestle and mortar and add it to the mustard seeds. Add the salt and grated nutmeg to the mustard seeds. Take a larger bowl than the one that contains your fermented mustard seeds and add ice cubes and water to make an ice bath in which to place your bowl of fermented mustard seeds. This will help avoid elevating the temperature of the mustard seeds while blending. Mustard seeds are overly sensitive to heat, and elevated temperatures will impact on the texture and flavour.

I decided to make an ancient style mustard. One can strain the mustard paste from the mustard seeds if you prefer a creamier style mustard.

The 200g mustard seeds produces two large jars of mustard that I will keep in the fridge where they will continue improving with age. We are looking forward to this new taste experience.

Soon, I will be able to use Towerwater Dijon mustard when making the next batch of homemade gravadlax. No more searching for illusive ingredients, as I contemplate more unique Towerwater flavoured mustards and verjuice pickling options for the Towerwater larder.