A bold look at mustard

Walk the mustard aisle of any store, and "D" will stand for Dijon, a testament, perhaps, to the popularity of all those Grey Poupon commercials. But "D" also means Düsseldorf, an oft-overlooked style that has multiple culinary uses beyond garnishing a hot dog.

"Düsseldorf has much better flavor than Dijon," says chef Walter Staib of Philadelphia's City Tavern restaurant. "But it doesn't have the sex appeal of Dijon, or the pedigree."

"I cook with mustard all the time. The Düsseldorf has more flavor," adds Staib, host of the public television series A Taste of History. Yet, even this German-born chef was forced to switch to Dijon when writing his Black Forest Cuisine cookbook. Dijon was more widely available, and his editors insisted on it.

"There's a boldness," he says of Düsseldorf. "It's better for cooking, for salads."

Like Dijon, Düsseldorf has many culinary uses. Yet it is Dijon that gets much of the respect and supermarket-shelf space these days. But that may change, at least on a governmental level.

Like Dijon in France, Düsseldorf is an actual place, a city on the Rhine River in western Germany. An application was recently filed with the European Commission to award an appellation-like, protected geographical-indication status to "Düsseldorfer mostert."

What that means, essentially, is that a mustard labeled as Düsseldorf (or Düsseldorfer) has to be made there according to specific regulations, at least as far as sales in the European Union are concerned.

As defined in the application, Düsseldorf's mustard "consists exclusively of ground brown and yellow mustard seeds, unfiltered spirit vinegar produced in Düsseldorf, the special lime- and mineral-rich water of Düsseldorf, salt, sugar, and spices." It has "a bright, creamy consistency and a malt-brown color" and contains "tiny pieces of husks [specks]." And the flavor? "Hot, malty, spicy," which the application credits to the triple grinding of the mustard husks.

Judging by what's on the shelves over here, U.S. mustard producers have differing ideas of what Düsseldorf mustard is.

"It may be a smooth, brown mustard or more grainy or spicier," says Barry M. Levenson, founder and curator of the National Mustard Museum in Middleton, Wis. "Your Düsseldorf and my Düsseldorf could be totally different."

No wonder Olds Products Co., the Pleasant Prairie, Wis., maker of Koops' Düsseldorf mustard, tries to help consumers with the descriptions: "a smooth German-style mustard" and "America's Brat Mustard."

While the mustard is great on brats and hot dogs and sausages, don't feel limited. Marlena Spieler, a California-born cookbook author now living in Waterlooville, England, reaches for Düsseldorf mustard when she wants to give a "subtly different flavor" to a dish.

"It's always strong and not sweet," she says, "just the way I like it."

For Spieler, who thinks even the word Düsseldorf is cool, the mustard works with tuna, burgers, chicken salad, and grilled cheeses of all types.

Düsseldorf mustard can be darker in color than its Dijon counterpart, but Staib, for one, doesn't believe that's much of a problem, especially in a sauce that can be lightened with sour cream or another ingredient.

"Close your eyes," he says, "and you would think it was a very strong Dijon mustard."