When Condiments Betray You

We use a fair bit of hot mustard. It is more often than not a Maille although the odd Grey Poupon finds it's way into the larder, and once in awhile (usually for recipe) a bottle of Colemans (which is usually on the hot side) finds it's way into our kitchen.

Being very familiar with Maille, I know exactly how much to use - or at least I thought I did until the last jar was opened. I anointed a sandwich with the routine amount and bit into it. The closest experience I can recall is the sensation you get of someone sticking a heated poker up your nose when you mistakenly hit a piece of sushi where the chef has been a bit to liberal with the wasabi. Like not double but more like 10X as hot as the last Maille I used.

Surely these companies have quality control people that should blend to a standard. Has anyone else had a similar experience with condiment betrayal?

Interesting mustard facts:

Grey Poupon is owned by Kraft and it is made using Canadian mustard seed.

Maille is owned by Unilever and also uses Canadian mustard seed. It's use of various Frenchifying labeling elements has been the result of at least one lawsuit.

The only mustard made in Canada is French's (aka ballpark/hot dog mustard a different creature altogether)

On mustard, this makes an interesting read:

https://www.seriouseats.com/2014/05/mus ... grain.html

Maybe you accidentally got the French Maille?
Maille had a store in NYC with the pumps but I think the pandemic killed them.
Lots of varieties.
I like Fallot and keep it around. But we also keep Trader Joe's Dijon, it's quite good for slathering on duck legs before panko, or other uses where Fallot is overkill.

They still make the Maille in France using Canadian seed, and I don't know that they make it any hotter for home consumption, but that could be it.

Any chance there's a difference in the age of the product? Mustards and horseradish can mellow over time. Check best by date.

BTW, I've always admonished, "Practice safe food. Use condiments."

[Jenise]

David and Nadine brought me a bottle of Maille from France, Bill. It was significantly spicier than the domestic version--quite wonderful. But when not blessed by friends I'm otherwise a devotee of domestic Maille, which is so much more elegant than Grey Poupon in both flavor and texture. I don't use anything else, although it's on the Endangered Species list here at Chez J and will remain so until the border re-opens (when it does, I'm coming straight to your place for an appropriate celebration). Up there, a big jar costs me $2 less than the small jar down here. I was fortunately one jar ahead with things clammed up or I'd be screaming by now.

This one is good to 2022, so definitely a new one, but hotter than any I've had before and I've been using it for years.

It isn't just me - https://www.reddit.com/r/AskCulinary/co ... n_mustard/

Wonder of they mislabeled some of their extra hot?

They have quite a large product range: https://www.maille.ca/en/products/mustards/index.html

[Jenise]

Might be; in fact, probably. Btw, have you tried the Provencale? Love it.

Might be; in fact, probably. Btw, have you tried the Provencale? Love it.

No, but will keep my eyes open for it.

[Jenise]

I've only seen it once ever--at the Safeway in White Rock, of all places.

Grey Poupon is owned by Kraft and it is made using Canadian mustard seed.

Further to Grey Poupon, as the Wikipedia article on Grey-Poupon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_Poupon) points out, the American version is made in Holland, Michigan, whereas the Canadian and European versions are made in France. The bottles even look quite different:

American version: https://e22d0640933e3c7f8c86-34aee0c49088be50e3ac6555f6c963fb.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/0054400000240_CL_default_default_large.jpeg

Canadian version: https://digitalcontent.api.tesco.com/v2/media/ghs/db5e1f02-f949-461a-a319-67ede409c1fd/snapshotimagehandler_216604182.jpeg?h=540&w=540

At one time, the two were formulated differently (the Canadian version was stronger), but I don't know if this is still true.

[Jenise]

Ted, that's interesting! Didn't know. I do think we uncovered here once, several years back, that some thought that Canadian Maille was French-made, and that was no longer so. That it's true of Grey Poupon instead makes some sense.

Jenise - I went into my local yuppie grocery store this morning (at 7 AM - old fogey hour) and they had the Provencal Maille in the small size. Grabbed a jar and as soon as we got home, opened it for a taste. You are right - very good. I'll ask them if they can get it in the 500 ml size. Interested if I can get a jar or two for you?

[Jenise]

I'd love it, Bill, thank you!!!

Ted, that's interesting! Didn't know. I do think we uncovered here once, several years back, that some thought that Canadian Maille was French-made, and that was no longer so. That it's true of Grey Poupon instead makes some sense.

When the pandemic is over, you should take a bottle of the US version to Bill's and do a comparison with the Canadian version (or do it in the other direction). That would be interesting. I'd do it myself, but I have no sense of smell and an impaired sense of taste (long-standing, not COVID-related).

I like Chinese-style hot mustard (a real sinus-clearer) with Chinese appetizers such as roasted spareribs, fried wonton, and spring rolls. I mix my own from Coleman's mustard powder.

-Paul W.

The hierarchy of heat in mustard is:

Ballpark yellow weenie mustard - not hot at all

Dijon (wherever made) has a heat range from quite mild to the Maille I hit - just short of really hot.

Hot mustard - usually made from mustard powder, and remains hot only if you mix it with cold water - hot water tempers it. Coleman's is one of these and can be had in either dry or wet forms - the former retains heat longer, so if you want hot, mix your own.

German mustard - usually one grade hotter than Dijon. Varies.

Chinese mustard - hottest of all, partially because it is almost always prepared from dry ground mustard right before using it.

As in chili preparation, macho bragging enters into some mustards. 357 Extreme Mad Dog Mustard (one guess on which company that comes from). To quote their company press : "features real Colman’s English Mustard, Habanero peppers, fresh ground horseradish, and the hugely popular turmeric". I think that they are vying to be the Carolina Reaper of mustards (a pepper which surpassed the former champion, The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion in 2020).

[Jenise]

Bill, I'm a fan of Chinese hot mustard. I buy dry Hot Mustard from Penzey's and mix it into things occasionally, but mostly my real love is putting it in a small dish side by side with ketchup, Chinese restaurant style, into which to dip fried shrimp or French fries. Neither of which I eat more than about twice a year, if that. But damn--when the jones hits, watch out!

Interesting discussion. Maille always tastes blander and less flavorful in the US as opposed to France, but I never thought too much about it. Surprisingly hard to get good mustard here as well, especially once a big 'gourmet food' store closed. Whole Foods still carries Maille, which works for us. I suppose I could always turn to mail order, like everything else these days!

When I was a kid, the only mustard we ever saw was Coleman's mustard powder. We mixed our own for the table, with a spoonful of powder and a spoonful of water. It was HOT as Hades. I suppose you can still get the powdered stuff but I buy it in jars these days, and enjoy the range of flavours and textures available.

You get Coleman's both ways. The advantage of the powder is that it retains all the heat until you mix it with water while the ready made slowly loses potency. And you have to mix it with cold water, not hot as hot won't let it develop full potency. I understand that many people use beer or wine to mix it into, but frankly I'd doubt my ability to gauge any difference in taste under the heat.

On the Maille, we have come to grips with the fact that this particular bottle is may times the heat of normal and are applying it judiciously. And we will taste the next bottle (and probably every bottle ever after) to check on potency before slathering it on anything!

Whole Foods still carries Maille, which works for us. I suppose I could always turn to mail order, like everything else these days!

Maille order?

-Paul W.

Whole Foods still carries Maille, which works for us. I suppose I could always turn to mail order, like everything else these days!

Maille order?

-Paul W.

Poupon you!

[Jenise]

Mustard we go there?

I never understood about the French how they had such comparatively bland food with regard to capsaicin, but mustard could be really hot. When my kid was 5 we were outside the Centre Pompidou (so a very touristy area) and the only thing on a food cart that seemed geared to American child palates was a hot dog. Except said hot dog came with nuclear Dijon mustard. We had to buy another one, even scraping the stuff off was way, way too much.