Senape... Mustard

I'm ready to return to my blog! I'm back in Italia, and to help me stress less about the late trains I need to go back to celebrating the best thing this country has to offer: its food!

However... my first "welcome back" post is inspired by a product I bought in Paris last week: fresh mustard! As this amazingly detailed article on Nibble explains, one of the main types of mustard bought and sold today has its origins in the Mediterranean and the pre-Italians (ancient Romans) used to grind up mustard seeds right at the table to dress their dishes. The Romans brought mustard seeds north to present-day France where it was then cultivated by monks. Around the turn of the thirteenth century, thanks to some "divine intervention" Dijon then became forever synonymous with mustard when the present Catholic pope privately commissed mustard sauce from a relative's garden in the region.

Every variety and brand of mustard as we know it today, as a prepared saucey condiment, is a mix of different ingredients from lemon juice to vinegar to mayonnaise depending on the preferences of each geography's population. The Romans started by mixing their crushed mustard seeds with il mosto, the first freshly squeezed juice from the fall wine grape harvest. Today, Italian mustard production and consumption is limited. You can find, as I call it, the bright yellow "hotdog variety" in most supermarkets. Traditionally made Italian mustard can now only be found in mom and pop bread or gourmet food shops at premium prices. Well-known varieties include Mostarda Montovana and Mostarda di Cremona. With a translator, you could try to make them at home with the linked recipes. But it's worth the splurge as the mustard is often mixed with lovely little treats like carmelized miniature red onions. One fun way I've consumed mustard in Italy is as part of a dish/event called the Fondue Bourguignonne. As the name suggests, the dish originates elsewhere, this recipe says from Switzerland. It's essentially a fondue of oil in which you fry different meats and then dip them in a variety of sauces, one being mustard usually prepared fresh from powder (Coleman's) with vinegar, oil, and water.

So back to my trip to Paris. Every trip I take, no matter how short, includes one gastronomic stop. This time I wanted to visit first-hand the Maille boutique I had seen Andrew Zimmer visit on The Travel Channel. This place has been around since 1747, and in addition to its famous mustards, it also produces a wide variety of vinegars. Much to my surprise, the mustard here wasn't even marked up for tourists, it was cheaper than in the grocery store! I bought one funky flavor and one traditional on tap. The 200g of "fresh white wine mustard" I bought on tap at Maille has been going fast. It's satisfyingly spicy yet is neutral enough in flavor to be a great compliment in salads, meat dishes, and sandwhiches.

Here's one Italian recipe that calls for mustard in which I tried using my French ingredient together with another ingredient that just came into season, the artichoke!: 

Carciofi fritti alla senape

(Mustard Fried Artichokes)

 (picture borrowed from original recipe website GialloZafferano)

Ingredients:
- 8 artichokes
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 tsp yeast
- 1 TBSP fresh chopped parsley
- 1-2 TBSP mustard
- 2 eggs
- 1 TBSP olive oil
- vegetable oil for frying
- salt

Instructions:
1.  Cook, cut and clean the artichokes. For basic steaming instructions see my previous post on artichokes. To cut: cut off the tops (the pointy part), and peel out the harder, outer leaves. Then slice the artichokes into chunks (about 8 per heart).
2. In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, flour, mustard, and salt. Then mix in the oil and yeast. Add warm water or more flour if needed to achieve a good consistency for coating the artichokes.
3. Mix the artichokes into the batter and let them sit a few minutes.
4. Mix in the parsley.
5. Heat the oil for frying and once hot add the "marinated" artichokes to the pan one by one to insure they don't stick together. Fry each artichoke section for 5-7 minutes.
6. Let artichokes cool on paper towels to absord some of the oil but serve hot and add salt to taste!
Original recipe in Italian