I’ve been expecting a thread on the this subject, but I only recently became affected by the mustard drought when OH tried to destroy the fridge (claimed she was ‘just trying to get something out from the shelves in the door’). Obviously this may indeed be the case (even if only for the sake of domestic stability). Nevertheless, one consequence was that our new, large jar of Maille sharttered on the floor.
It was only the following day that I discovered the extent of the French mustard shortage - there wasn’t any in Le Clerc, Casino or Intermarché.
Not panicking, I immediately ordered 250gms of Indian brown mustard seeds (similar to the traditional Canadian or Ukrainian ingredient). However, just after it arrvived, I was approached by some Dutch mustard runners, who this week are bringing me three large jars of Maille Dijon originale moutarde.
So, I’m open to offers…
And if anyone is interested in250 gms of brown Indian mustard seed…
Am still smugly working my way through the various tins of Colman’s mustsrd powder I got when I worked at Unilever. I prefer to mix my own.
but of course the Maille French made a welcome change. Unilever own Maille too but it got quite homogenous (some in a good way, but not always) after they bought it. The Paris Maille shop still had some delights like the one with piment d’espélette.
How will we make curries and chutneys without mustard seeds?
EDIT I hope Fortnum"s can still get it - some of their mustards were very interesting. Now youve reminded me.I hope their Tewkesbury (horseradish and mustard) will still be there when I dare to make it back
Yes, Dijon mustard has been in short supply for quite a while. I believe it’s due, like everything else, to Covid, Ukraine, and possibly global warming. I blame Liz Truss myself.
Apparently, Dijon uses mainly Canadian brown mustard seeds, but the harvest has failed and the Ukraine has a few problems too. Whereas Indian brown mustard seed remains plentiful . You can get it and almost anything else online at:-
Our Swiss mustard runners stocked us up with a couple of pots of Maille and a tube of Tommy two weeks ago. We already had local organic mustard and packets of yellow, black and brown mustard seed. And I found an unopened box of Colemans since we never use it. So we’re good for quite a while.
And if need be will pop into Dijon where the Maille shop has various flavours of mustard on tap to refill their jars - for a price of course.
The shelves have been empty of mustard here for ages, until last week in Carrefour when lots of yellow mustard in a jar appeared. Not French, but Roumanian. I bought a jar as I was desperate. It was awful. It seemed to taste nothing like mustard. No bite at all.
Aaaah! you are so lucky having the Dijon shop of Maille near you! There used to be only Dijon and the Paris one, that had all the special non-mass market mustards. People used to come in all the time with their large empty jars from mustard they had bought in Carrefour or wherever, and pay far less to have them filled out of a “mustard tap” en vrac. There was a choice, IIRC in Paris, of about 4 of the main mustards.
The last time I was in Paris, which sadly other than transiting is over 3 years ago now, I think the Maille shop there was no longer as there was a cafe there on the site instead. It is, however, just around the corner from Laduree in rue Royale… so I managed to get some reglisse macarons and some other ones I really like, whilst shielding my eyes from the price.
Many thanks for the link DrMark. I ordered a few items this morning, including mustard seeds, and have just received an email to say the parcel is on its way - already ! Impressive.
Apparently, the French consume more musatrd per head than any other nation, which may be why there isn’t any moutarde de Dijon left in the country, apart from @JaneJones local store, yet there’s plenty in surrounding countries, all of which also have their own inferior (did I just type that? I did!) local mustards.
I think unless one’s eating foreign dishes, Dijon’s the go to - though on street bought hotdogs, can it be anything other than the traditional, but misleadingly named French’s Yellow? Which, I’ve just dicovered one can buy it in France(!) in 3l tubs,
While typing this, my dark side began wondering about inviting nos voisins over for ’ Fifties apéros and treating them all to just hotdogs and Coke. But don’t worry, that won’t happen…
A good hotdog in a good roll with fried onions and mustard and ketchup is delicious. Less convinced by coke but if I ever were to drink any it would be the trad one, none of this light or no caffeine etc.
Hope you can read the above - after all, this is serious journalism, but if not I can paste it in another format - the world needs to know! In the meantime, catsups’s the oldest and best, ketchup’s a no-no
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