I’ve been writing about food and drink for five or six years now. First on my own basic blog then a more professional website and finally for commissioned pieces, and let me tell you it doesn’t get any easier. Sure, there are always lots of ideas, too many to be honest, buzzing around in my head. However, setting them down coherently requires a great deal of inspiration and perspiration and I am always trying to find an event, news story or interesting fact to build the article on.
Take today’s recipe, I have wanted to do a beer mustard for months, a simple but exceedingly tasty condiment, but I needed a tag, something to spin the narrative around and then blow me not one but two appeared. By the time the piece is published it will be getting close to Oktoberfest, possibly the biggest beer festival in the world. All foaming steins, lederhosen and pretzels with yes, you’ve guessed it, a tasty mustard dip. Second, I read that the multinational food giant Unilever was selling Colman’s of Norwich. The distinctive yellow mustard tin must surely be one of the most identifiable and iconic brands in the country.
This is a result of the company merging its food operations including Hellmann’s and Knorr with an American company called McCormick which already owns French’s mustard. All too familiar territory for CAMRA members and the agglomeration of beer brands in the hands of a few dominant industry players. So, what can we do in the face of these corporate behemoths? Well, for a start, drink cask beer made in a nearby brewery if at all possible and maybe consider making your own mustard.
My brown ale of choice for this recipe is a collaboration between two of my favourites, Thornbridge and Track Brewing and made using the former’s union brewery system. Here I defer to the wonderful Laura Hadland who has published a number of articles extolling everything about the union method, needless to say it makes for a jolly good pint and American Brown Ale (5.6 per cent ABV) is no exception. Rich, full-bodied with a lovely colour and lots of flavours of malt, nicely balanced with touches of citrus and pine from the use of West Coast American hops.
The great thing about this recipe is it is really just a guideline, for instance you can vary the amounts of yellow and brown mustard seeds. The brown ones are the more pungent and fiery. You can add chilli, honey and any number of other flavours and you can use pretty much any beer you like. Next time try a German bock beer or stout. But my personal preference is for the brown ale. The malty flavours are perfect with the mustard, and the finished product goes well with everything from those pretzels to roast pork. Beer mustard keeps well in the fridge in sealed sterile jars and makes the perfect gift.
Beer mustard
250ml American Brown Ale from the Union
50g brown mustard seeds
50g yellow mustard seeds
125ml malt vinegar
25g soft brown sugar
5g salt
2g ground black pepper
Soak the mustard seeds in the beer in the fridge for 24 hours, in a sterile, sealed container.
Dissolve the sugar and salt in the vinegar by heating gently. Allow to cool and mix into the mustard and beer mix.
Transfer everything to a food processor and pulse until you achieve the desired consistency. Wholegrain will require less than a smoother Dijon style mustard.
Spoon carefully into fresh, sterile containers with air-tight lids and allow the flavours to develop for a couple of days before using. It is great on burgers and hotdogs, as an accompaniment to your Sunday roast and makes a delicious sauce stirred into double cream.
