As Keen as Mustard: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S MOST TRADED SPICE

Mustard, as a spice, has been adding its distinctive flavour to food for thousands of years. The Romans, for example, in earlier times used to crunch the seeds between their teeth during meals and later used mustard to preserve vegetables, a forerunner of what we know as piccalilli. The discovery of the medicinal properties of mustard has been attributed to Aesculapius, the Greek god of medicine. Mustard soon became a valued medicinal product; particularly as a powerful and rapid brain stimulant.