Mustard
(Brassica juncea)Source: It originates from china, India
and Poland.
Description: There are three types of mustard: Brassica niger,
black mustard, which can grow to 10 feet; B. juncea, brown mustard,
which grows to only 4½ feet; and B. alba, white mustard, a much milder
form.
The pungency of the herb is due to an essential oil which forms only when
the dry mustard powder is mixed with water. B. juncea (brown mustard)
is the type most commonly grown today.
Brown mustard has a mass of small, four petaled yellow flowers that form a
dense carpet over the fields where they grow.
Medicinal Uses: A mustard bath, where the powder is mixed
with hot water, is comforting for sore and aching feet and relaxes and revives
the entire body.
Culinary Uses: Powdered mustard seed should be mixed with
cold water. Hot water will kill the enzymes and produce a bitter flavour. Dry
mustard powder is added to salad dressings to give them pungency, and also
added to egg and cheese dishes and rubbed over meat before roasting. White
mustard seed is a preservative used in pickling, either alone or as an ingredient
in mixed pickling spice.
Cultivation: Mustard is grown from seeds sown in
spring. It likes a moist soil and a sunny location. Harvest the seedpods in
late summer before they dry, and allow the seed to ripen in the pods. Store
the seed in airtight jars, away form strong light.
