This Saturday is National Mustard Day, and that means mustard lovers across the nation will be slathering it on hot dogs, pretzels, burgers, and fries. Die-hard mustard fans make pilgrimages to the National Mustard Museum in Wisconsin, where they revel in the yellow condiment.
The stuff has a long history dating back to Roman times, when they experimented with mixing unfermented grape juice with ground mustard seed. Not much has changed since then. Seeds from the mustard plant are used whole, ground, cracked, or bruised and mixed with water, vinegar, or some other liquid, depending on the desired flavor.
Yellow mustard as we know it was introduced by the R.T. French Company in 1904 when it was served on a hot dog at the St. Louis World's Fair.
So this Saturday, fire up the grill for those hot dogs and bring out the mustard. Hold the ketchup, please.
