Orange Marmalade Mustard with Tuna

The Mustards Tasting is over, which means that the ration of food thoughts in my life can direct more towards the blog again rather than be completely immersed in my tasting. I think the most surprising taste combination for me and one of the combinations that pleased most people at the tasting was the clementine marmalade mustard. It's a very simple combination, about half of a very good marmalade (in this case a San Giuliano Clementine Marmalade) and a good dijon mustard. That taste combination happens to transform the taste of tuna into a new realm, which makes me think it would be not only a surprising addition into a tuna salad but also could quickly be transformed into a glaze or a sauce to serve with a tuna steak.

Following is a recipe for one of the mustard desserts, a spiced chestnut cream, from The Compleat Mustard by Rosamond Man and Robin Weir, which I wouldn't copy so directly if the book didn't happen to be out of print. We didn't taste this dessert at the tasting, I just rearranged the flavors so we could appreciate the combination and I could show everyone what mustard does to chestnuts (makes them taste like chocolate). At the tasting I just pureed candied chestnuts, dijon mustard, and a dash of cocoa powder and whipped it into mascarpone to inspire the cooks at the tasting to go explore (that's part of eating fearlessly), but the original recipe is:

8 oz chestnut puree
4 oz unsalted butter
4 oz sugar
2 teaspoons cacao
1 tablespoon mustard powder
1/4 pint double cream, whipped
6 fl oz cream, chilled, to serve

Heat the puree with the butter and sugar, stirring constantly until melted. Add the cacao and mustard powder and cook for a further 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool for 30 minutes.

Whisk in the whipped cream very thoroughly, then spoon into small bowls...and chill overnight. Serve with chilled cream handed round separately.

This could be altered in such a way as to use prepared mustard instead (I certainly would because I could then create dozens of variations on this by using different mustards). A prepared cognac mustard would do interesting flavor changes to that.

Mustards 101

French Mustards and Vinaigrettes, with Solomon (that's me)
Wednesday, January 24^th, 7-9 pm
Zingerman's Deli-Next Door, $20/person
Call 734-663-3400 to reserve your spot(s)!

I'm obsessed with mustards. I've been studying them for months now, hunting down obscure books to learn more about them. Join me to learn more about mustards than you thought possible and to create/taste some incredibly intriguing and flavorful vinaigrettes.

Here's what the tasting "menu" will include...

a review of how made mustard is created
anchovy mustard
quince mustard
aioli made with avocado or artichoke, anchovy and mustard
a couple of mustard butters
orange marmalade mustard
honey mustards
vinaigrettes
a chestnut, cocoa, mustard and cream dessert
a moustarde violette, mascarpone and honey dessert

We will also use several different vehicles (i.e. apples, pears, cauliflower, broccoli, clementines, bread, salamis) to enjoy the mustards.

If all of the above seems a little strange, remember,

Eat fearlessly!

Dessert at my mustard tasting

At my last tasting, I finished with a dessert that was a variation of a dessert that inspired the creation of The Compleat Mustard. In The Compleat Mustard, the dessert which inspired it was 2-3 tablespoons of a quince mostarda (another link with pictures) on top of 2-3 tablespoons of mascarpone, chilled slightly. My last tasting, as with my upcoming tasting, involved French food so an Italian mostarda was out of place, but the dessert intrigued me so that I felt I had to at least give it a nod, especially given how much I'm treasuring my new book.

Thankfully, I have a French mustard which shares that sweet, spicy, fruitiness of the fruit mostardas, and happens to be one of my favorite tastes of all time, moutarde violette. This had its start as a way to use up excess grapes at the end of wine season in Burgundy. Instead of a vinegar or verjuice being used as the base acid in a made mustard, cooked down grapes (or grape must) are used as the base, along with keeping most of the mustard seeds whole or cracked. This mustard is not nearly as sweet as an Italian mostarda, though, so moutarde violette and mascarpone by itself was more of a savory treat than a sweet... which was magically transformed with the addition of some fir tree honey.

The dessert was wonderful and will be one of the features during my tasting on the 24th, though quite probably with chestnut honey this time.

FRENCH MUSTARDS AND VINAIGRETTES TASTING
January 24th, 7-9 pm, $20
Zingerman's Deli
422 Detroit St.
Ann Arbor, MI
Call 734-663-3400 to reserve a spot

Moutarde Violette a.k.a. "Purple Mustard"

Another of my top ten food items. Mustard made using grape must from the leftover grapes at the end of wine season in burgundy.

My top ten list only has four items on it right now. Though I adore many of the foods I deal with everyday, this top ten list is more than that... foods really have to earn a spot there. I have to be obsessed with them. Just because they are on the list doesn't mean they're finer foods than others, merely that I'm obsessed. Hell, extra vecchio balsamic isn't on that list even though I recognize it's one of the finest tastes in existence.