mustard

Any of several annual plants belonging to the cress family, with seed-bearing pods and sweet-smelling yellow flowers. Brown and white mustard are cultivated as an accompaniment to food in Europe and North America. The seeds of brown mustard (B. juncea) and white mustard (Sinapis alba) are used in the preparation of table mustard. (Genus mainly Brassica, family Cruciferae.)

Brown mustard replaced black mustard (B. nigra) in commercial mustard products during the 1950s with the introduction of mechanized harvesting. B. nigra is unsuitable for mechanized harvesting since its pods split open to release their seeds; those of B. juncea do not. Table mustard is most often used as an accompaniment to meat, although it can also be used in sauces and dressings, and with fish. English mustard is made from finely milled brown and white mustard seed to which ground turmeric is added for colour. French Dijon mustard contains brown mustard seed, verjuice (the juice of unripe grapes), oil, and white wine. Other varieties are made with vinegar, and may be flavoured with herbs or garlic. The seedlings of white mustard are used in salads. White mustard is also sometimes grown by farmers and ploughed back to enrich the soil. Brown mustard is grown on a large scale as an oil-seed crop throughout India, China, and southern Russia.