My Love Affair With Sulfur

(The post that wasn't) 

  I used to bring back as much Amora mustard as I could. 
 

The mustard was loaded Potassium, Metabisulfite, that same stuff that comes in tabs, dropped into wine as a preservative. 

Winemakers find these tabs (Campden)  easier and less toxic to handle than SO2 in liquid.   In theory, I say less is better than more, but when it came to mustard? Well, I was embarrassed--me--natty wine and all of that, but I had such a hard time getting that razor edge on mustard here on home turf and I hated dull mustard. Sure, it might have been loaded with the preservative, but if Potassium, Metabisulfite was my price for strong? So be it.

 I'm a pragmatist, after all. 

The last time  I was in France, on my last minutes of food buying frenzy in Paris, I picked up a jar of that Amora, salivating, thinking about the salad dressings and potatoes I could make with it. Put it in my luggage. Darn, busted once more. 

  So today I saw Roland Extra Strong and the color was a hi yellow, tuned up with sulfur. I had the organic version in my 'fridge, yet,  I thought, that must be strong. Yum. I bought it. 

 

 Then I pulled out my organic  Roland (my Amora substitute) and placed them side by side. 

 

Then I was all prepared to rush to the computer and blog how the organic

  mustard sucked. 

But it didn't. Side by side the organic one had the bite and a little more purity, the color was a little browner but I'm not looking for color, looking for the taste. 

The Roland Organic, unsulfured mustard slayed its own competition.

I'm  just pissed because I really wanted this post to be about how I loved sulfur.

 Oh well. 

Comments

[Jose]

I'm piss too, and yes Oh Well !!

(Safe trips Princesa)

[Linus Hollis]

Even the Safeway O Dijon is better and strong, but the whole grain organic Dijon from Trader Joe's is even better. Enjoy

[barbara shinn]

Love the organic mustard trial. Adjusting one's eye from what was once formerly thought to be beautiful (in this case bright yellow) to what is now known to signify beauty....not so yellow equals yummy mustard...mother nature always endures.

[DomaineLisson]

if it wasn't propably as difficult as shipping a bottle of wine, I could have send you a glass of the best mustard from my home-town, Düsseldorf - it's guaranteed pure mustard ans vinegar without any adjuncts - they have their traditional "Reinheitsgebot", like the German brewers:-).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Loewensenf_Extra.jpg

but would not help to resolve the sulfur-love problem...

[Linus Hollis]

By the way, the penny trick [using pre 1981 peroxided pennies to get rid of excess sulfur in wines-CuO2 + Sulfites or sulfides --> CuSO4+H2O] works on metabisulfites too. No more asthma attacks Chez Hollis from sulfites!

[Meg Staloff]

Hi Alice,
Here's another thought. When we moved here to 'the sticks' where even semi-decent mustard is horribly overpriced, and trips to Fairway are few and far between, I discovered that one can MAKE mustard! Yes, it's true. Buy some mustard seeds, soak them in water and vinegar for two days, hit with the immersion blender, add some salt, and voila! strong mustard. And you can make small amounts so it stays fresh. Try it, with 1/4 cup mustard seeds, 1/3 cup cider vinegar (I add a dash of aged sherry for a bit more flavor), and 1/4 cup water. No sulphur (except, I suppose, what's in the vinegar. And there's none in our crunchy-granola cider vinegar. And, no I don't make that myself. Yet!)

[Alicefeiring]

Making my own mustard is a long time coming. I will try it.

[Flowfilms]

I was just about to bring an extra suitcase to France for my Amora addiction. Hmmm...I better rethink this.