When is National Mustard Day 2024

In the modern world there is a great amount of various holidays. Some of them are really amazing or even funny. For instance, can you answer the question “When is National Mustard Day in 2024?” at once? As a rule people ask some for recollecting, but even after the serious thinking most of them are not able to give the proper reply.

That is the reason why we are going to discuss this unusual special occasion now.

History

From the very beginning we would like to mention that is it quite impossible to tell, what day National Mustard Day in 2024 is without historical background of this notable day.

The history of mustard is impressive. Even in Ancient Egypt and China, a lot of meal was accompanied by seeds of mustard. However, the birthplace of mustard is Ancient Rome, and its creator is considered to be the famous ancient Roman artist, writer and philosopher Pliny the Elder. Apparently, he first mixed mustard powder with vinegar.

All in all mustard is believed to be one of the oldest spices. In his writings, famous philosopher Hippocrates also wrote about the medical properties of this seasoning. He was sure that it helped to reduce the pain in muscles, had antitussive and expectorant properties and improved appetite.

Mustard seeds have been used by Indian cuisine since 3000 BC.  The first known mustard recipe was published in 42 BC.

It is interesting to mention that in ancient Rome mustard was used not only in cooking, but also for medicinal purposes – to combat rheumatism, hypertension and to improve digestion.

The most flourishing production of mustard reached several hundred years later – in the Middle Ages. In France, there was even a special profession – a specialist in cooking seasoning, which had to serve in every royal or noble court. Mustard masters created their community, whose patron saint was considered to be St. Vincent.

Today some kinds of mustard are produced by the descendants of those professionals.

Meaning

What does National Mustard Day mean? Frankly speaking, there can be a great amount of explanations. Some people prefer to take it as a perfect special occasion to treat new tastes.

In the course of time this seasoning was once a participant in military negotiations. Persian king Darius sent Alexander the Great to call a bag of sesame seeds, which, hinted that there were a lot of soldiers in his army. In response, Alexander sent a small bag of mustard seeds, which said that even being much smaller, but fought better.

By the way, thanks to the mustard, many dishes will taste better. But in addition it contains many vitamins, which are able to improve appetite and to help digestion. It has a lot of B vitamins (needed for well-balanced work of the nervous system and good mood), vitamin A (improves eyesight and skin), vitamin D (makes the bones strong), vitamin E (helps to remove wrinkles and protects against cardiovascular diseases), iron, potassium and phosphorus.

However, in ancient Rome and Greece, mustard was not popular.

In the 9th century, an important and significant part of French monasteries income was represented by the mustard production.

Definition

It’s hard to imagine an American who does not like mustard. And every person seems to know the answer to the question “What is the date of Mustard Day 2024?” – It is in early August, just on August 1. And this celebration is usually accompanied by eating hot dogs, various competitions and festivals. We also can’t but mention that now the locals as well as numerous guests are able to visit a museum devoted to this seasoning.

Mustard is grown in three varieties – black, white and Sarept (the most common in Russia). The village of Sarepta in the Volgograd region is the center for the cultivation. Here locals began to grow this seasoning in the 13th century. Mustard Sareptian was named after the German settlement of Sarepta-on-the-Volga, in which in 1810 the first European mustard mill was created. And it, in turn, received its name in honor of Sarepta of Sidon, an ancient Phoenician city.

By the way, according to statistics, Americans eat the most amount of mustard in the world. American variety is made from white seeds with a lot of sugar. This is the most liquid kind of mustard. In the specialized museum you can try more than five thousand different names of this seasoning: sour and sweet, with honey, pepper, cheese, beer, wine, even with vodka, with garlic and olives, with all berries, there is even chocolate mustard. All in all there are representatives of this sauce from 70 countries. The exposition is constantly updated and replenished.

The main components of mustard seasoning are mustard grains, water, vinegar and spices. Different varieties of mustard give spices an individual taste and color.

The main character of any seasoning is a mustard plant. It has seeds of yellow or light beige. Their taste is sweet at first, but gradually becomes much spicier.

White mustard in the form of ground or whole grain is most often used for the production of a popular seasoning. Black mustard seeds are smaller and sharper. Its dark seeds represent one of the main spices of Indian cuisine. The third variety is Sareptian. Its grain after grinding begins to be bitter.

The process of mustard production has remained unchanged for centuries. Initially, the seeds are dried, ground, then mixed with vinegar, wine and spices. The mixture is heated and then cooled.

Traditions

So you have already known the answer to the question “When is International Mustard Day 2024?” but do you know, how to celebrate August 1 properly?

In fact there are no any special customs for this notable occasion, but you can always invent something personally for you as well as for your family, friends, relatives or even colleagues from work.

The best way to do it is to try something new. As it has been mentioned above nowadays there is a great amount of various kinds of this product and you can take to almost any product you like. As a rule, people prefer to get it to sausages, meat, fish and porridges.

Mustard Day Facts

When is Mustard Day in 2024, calendar will help you not to forget, but would you like to find out some interesting fact concerning this popular all over the world seasoning?

Here is out list:

• Since ancient times, because of the natural preservatives it has been used to keep the food fresh, for example, meat or fish.
• According to the Eastern legend, Buddha Gautama ordered a woman, who lost her son, to go and to collect one mustard seed from each family, which would not suffer any loss. When the woman returned empty-handed, she realized that death was an inevitable outcome for all living things and was reconciled with the loss of her son.
• In Germany, it was a tradition to sew a seed in the veil of the bride to make the marriage long and happy.
• Once upon a time in the East, mustard was used as an aphrodisiac.
• The ancient Greeks and Romans added these seasoning to the altar, setting fire to the gods.
• Pope John XXII, who lived in the 14th century, added mustard sauce to all dishes except desserts.
• In the XIX century, the famous French writer and connoisseur of national cuisine Alexander Dumas devoted this product a large article in the Parisian culinary magazine called “Gourmet Almanac”.
• Today, in Denmark, mustard seeds are still scattered around the house in order to drive away the evil spirit and attract happiness.