http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/pDetail.asp?p=615 (2.9 oz. tin, $2.35,
from India---the photo looks like the seeds are all black, like those I
remember being sold in the street markets. When sealed, the mustard
seed remains viable for about five years.
MUSTARD
(white, yellow), Brassica alba; black (brown), Brassica nigra)
Mustard was formerly made up into balls with honey or vinegar and a
little cinnamon, to keep till wanted, when they were mixed with more
vinegar. It was sold in balls till Mrs. Clements, of Durham, on July 10,
1720*, invented the method of preparing mustard flour or powder, which
long went under the name of Durham Mustard.
*Date sent in by Valdi Reinas, Estonia
Mustard plants produce about 1,000 pounds of seeds per acre.
In one year at New York's Yankee Stadium more than 1,600 gallons plus
2,000,000 individual packets of mustard are consumed.
Most of the mustard seeds used in Dijon, France are actually grown in
the United States and Canada. Canada produces about 90 percent of the
world's supply of mustard seeds---since the trend is to grow brown
mustard seeds, don't know how much is still black mustard seeds in
Canada or the U.S.. Black mustard certainly still grows wild in many
states, and the seeds could be collected for the gathering from the
six-foot high weeds..
Over 700 million pounds of mustard are consumed worldwide each year.
George J. French introduced his French's mustard in 1904, the same year
that the hot dog was introduced to America at the St. Louis World's Fair.
The Mustard Museum is in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. It has the world's
largest collection of mustards, with over 3,500 varieties.
[Homestead] Few more notes on black mustard seed,
Tvoivozhd, 10/31/2004