Food Alchemy: Mustard

This post is basically just a teaser trailer for my next project, mustard. Mustard is profoundly effected by biological processes (well, possibly considered chemistry, since it is largely an enzyme driven process, but since I am a biologist I am claiming for biology). Ground mustard seed has no relation to the condiment we are all familiar with. This is because there is a reaction that has to take place for the transformation (or Alchemy) to something good. Allyl isothiocyanate (the compound that gives mustard its heat and characteristic flavor) has to be produced. This is done when an enzyme in the seed is activated by addition of water. The interesting part of this whole process is that the mustard levels of this chemical change greatly in time. Immediatly after combining water to mustard the flavor is bland, but after 10 minutes it is nearly unbearable. Good mustards need to age for at least a week (for spicy mustard, longer for more mild) to cut the heat a bit and develop more complex, less bitter flavors. As a fan of mustard I am excited to give this a try, though I wish I had a good source of baby food jars for all my samples... nope, not going to have a baby just for the jars. As an aside, I am especially excited for Sweet and Spicy Apple Mustard