Mustard was well known to the ancients, but more in a medicinal way than dietetic. From an edict of Diocletian, 30 A.D., in which it is mentioned along with alimentary substances, we must suppose it was then regarded as a condiment, at least in the eastern parts of the Roman empire. In Europe, during the middle ages, mustard was a valued accompaniment to food, especially with the salted meats which constituted a large portion of the diet of our ancestors during the winter. In the Welsh “Meddygon Myddrai” of the 13th century, a paragraph is devoted to the “Virtues of Mustard.” In household accounts of the 13th and 14th centuries, mustard is of constant occurrence; it was then cultivated in England, but not extensively. The price of the seed between 1285 and 1340 varied from 1s 3d to 6s 8d per quarter (21 lbs.), but between 1347 and 1376 it was as high as 15s and 16s. In the accounts of the Abbey of St. Germain des Pres in Paris, 800 A.D., mustard is specially mentioned as a regular part of the revenue of the convent lands.

The essential oil of mustard was first noticed in 1660 by Nicolas le Febre and more distinctly in 1732 by Boerharroe.

The word mustard comes from the Italian, murtard, which is derived from the Latin must-um, unfermented grape juice, with which the Italians formerly mixed ground mustard. The Athenians called it napy; while the Hellenistic name was sinapi, or sinapy, whence the Latin sinapi, or sinapis, from which is derived the German word senf. Hippocrates used mustard in medicine under the name of Vanuit. The dark seed, which comes from Trieste, Austria, is called Trieste mustard. Spoken of by Theophnastus, Galin and others. What is called French mustard, German mustard, etc., is made of the dressings mixed with vinegar, garlic and other spices and flavoring musterial. The form in which table mustard is now sold dates from 1720, about which time Mrs. Clements, of Durham, Eng., hit on the idea of grinding the seed in a mill and sifting the flour from the husk. This bright yellow farina rapidly attained wide popularity. The fame of “Durham Mustard” was spread far and wide, Mrs. Clements traveling to London and principal cities twice a year taking orders.

There are two species of mustard plants from which ground mustard is made. The sinapes alba, white or yellow mustard, and sinapes nigra, brown or black mustard, is the mustard plant spoken of in Luke XIII, 19. They are annual herbs, three to 6 ft. high, with lyrate leaves, yellow flowers, and slender pods, from one to four inches long, containing a single row of roundish seeds.

One of the peculiarities incident to the cultivation of mustard is the fact that two crops of mustard cannot be raised on the same ground in succession. Another variety is sinapes arvenus, or wild mustard, called charlock and used for adulterating; the Sarepta, the black seed of the sinapes juncea, from the East Indies, is used for the same purpose. Sarepta is called from a city of that name in Russia, in the government of Saratov.

The brown or black variety is sown in January and the yellow or white in March, the seed being sown broadcast and harvested in August. A reaper is used, cutting the stalks and throwing them in bunches, where they are left to cure until October. They are now thoroly dry and are taken to a convenient place, spread out upon sheets of canvas and rolled with a heavy roller. The stalks and empty pods are then raked off, and the chaff and seeds remaining are run thru a fanning machine, after which process they are ready to sack and market.

There are two processes in use in making ground mustard. In the first, the seeds, white or black, or mixed, are ground to powder and then put thru an elaborate course of siftings. The product left after the first sifting is called “dressings” and that which passes thru is pure mustard flour. This mustard flour is again run thru a finer sieve, and so on until the required fineness is obtained. From the dressings left after the different sievings, the essential oil of mustard is expressed.

In the other method, the oil is first extracted from the seeds by hydraulic pressure, which leaves a sort of cake. This cake is then broken up and pounded in a mortar. It is then sifted, that going thru the sieve being a kind of bolted mustard flour. The remaining bran is then mixed with an equal quantity of wheat flour, one per cent of cayenne and sufficient turmeric to give the proper color. This is pounded and treated as before, the process being continued until there is no bran left. Then all the different siftings are mixed together, giving a mixture of about equal proportions of mustard and wheat flour, with the cayenne and turmeric added in proper quantities.

The peculiar pungency and odor, to which mustard owes much of its value, are due to an essential oil developed by the action of water on two chemical substances contained in black mustard seed; one called sinigrin and the other myrosin. The latter substance in the presence of water acts as a sort of ferment on the sinigrin, and it is worthy of remark that this reaction does not take place in the presence of boiling water and, therefore, it is not proper to use very hot water in the preparation of mustard, cold water only should be used. White mustard seed contains in the place of sinigrin a peculiar acrid substance called sinalbin and also a trace of myrosin, therefore, it possesses very little pungency and it produces a larger percentage of flour than the black. The proper blending of these two seeds is necessary to the production of the best mustard, as the white has the peculiar ferment within it which develops to the highest degree the flavor of the black.

The reason for mixing wheat flour, rice flour or other farina with pure mustard flour is, that owing to the large amount of oil contained in the latter it will not keep long, but turns rancid, ferments and cakes; the added farinas by absorbing a portion of the oil retards fermentation, decomposition and rancidity. They should not be looked upon as adulterants, unless added in too great quantities, and the price of the mustard should be in proportion to the added absorbents.

A mean form of adulteration is to mix gypsum and chrome yellow with the ground mustard seed.

If upon the addition of a small quantity of iodine to ground mustard it turns blue, it shows that starch is present. The ammonia test will show the presence of turmeric. Every manufacturer has his own particular formula, and consequently there are many different qualities, both in the pure mustard and the compounds. One is composed of 37 per cent brown and 50 per cent white mustard flour, 10 per cent of rice flour, 3 per cent of black pepper, a little Chili pepper and ginger.

Pure mustard oil, as pressed from the seed, is not pungent and will not blister unless mixed with water.

The English mustard seed is the best in the world. Of this class 4,995,800 lbs. of seed and 1,307,202 lbs. of flour were imported during the year 1908. Mustard seed and flour from Italy is known as Trieste. In the Lompoe valley, California, some 2,500 acres are under mustard cultivation, and a small quantity is also grown in Kentucky.

The uses of mustard are too well known to need recapitulation. D.S.F. means double superfine.