Mustard

Description

Mustard is an annual herbaceous plant with an erect stem and glabrous stalks, rounded, robust and well branched; the height of this herb varies from a few tens of centimetres to well over a metre. Of this plant, which has been cultivated since antiquity for culinary and medicinal uses, there are several varieties: there is black mustard, brown mustard and white mustard.

Leaves

The leaves at the base of the clumps are lanceolate with toothed margins, the upper ones are always oval and pointed, but have smooth margins; their upper surface is dark green, the lower one lighter. Mustard leaves are aromatic, and for this reason the most tender ones can be added to salads.

Flowers

The small mustard flowers open in summer, are gathered in inflorescences, have four yellow petals, are slightly aromatic. SEEDS: Mustard seeds are spherical, their colour ranges from brown to cream; their aroma develops only when they are ground and placed in tepid water. Black mustard seeds are the hottest.

Exposure

Like most aromatic plants, mustard loves a sunny position, but it also grows very well in light shade.

Propagation

When the aim is to harvest the seeds, sowing is normally done in spring; if, instead, you want to eat the most tender leaves of the clumps in salads, sowing should be repeated roughly every twenty days.

Growth

Plants grown for their seeds should be thinned out, leaving a certain amount of space around them; this thinning is not necessary if you wish to harvest the leaves. In any case, however, periodic hoeing of the soil is useful to ensure that the clumps develop.

Harvesting

The leaves to be added to salads are ready for cutting as early as ten days or so after sowing; the flowers should be picked when they open; the siliques containing the seeds should be cut in late autumn, when the stems begin to turn yellow and the seed pods take on a brown hue. It is important to prevent the fruits from ripening fully while still on the plant, because the siliques would burst open, scattering the seeds. After cutting the stems, the seed pods are exposed to the sun to complete their ripening; afterwards the seeds alone are left out in the air.

Storage

The seeds are kept dried or in vinegar.

Properties

IN THE KITCHEN: The characteristic aroma, pungent and bitter, is released by mustard seeds only when they are ground: the brown ones are less hot than the black ones. White seeds are the ones that keep longest.

Beauty

Powdered mustard seeds are used as a deodorant for washing the hands after handling onion, bleach, fish or any substance with a strong and not very pleasant smell; they also serve to remove bad smells from crockery. Those with smelly feet can add mustard seeds to their foot bath.

Health

A mustard poultice has an emollient effect, treats colds and relieves the pain of arthritis, rheumatism and chilblains.

Curiosity

The Romans made great use of mustard, both in cooking, where, by mixing its ground seeds with boiled must, they obtained the first mostarda, and in pharmacy, as an ingredient of many medicines.