Mustard and Co.

My love for mustard has been a nearly 20-year affair, beginning from the French’s honey mustard that my mom used to put in my ham sandwiches for school lunch. Since then, I’ve tried every kind of mustard I’ve come across, from classic yellow to spicy brown to pickled whole mustard seeds. So when I found Mustard and Co.’s Honey Curry mustard at Murray’s Cheese in the West Village, I was so stoked to try it out. The mustard has a sharpness that I don’t always taste in many store bought variants and I found that the combination of curry and mustard was very tasty. So, I contacted Mustard and Co. to learn about the magic behind the mustard.

Mustard and Co. owner and co-founder Justin Hoffman was not a mustard lover when he first started making the condiment. The story of Mustard and Co. starts with Justin sitting in a sandwich shop in Duluth, MN, where he lived at the time. At the shop, he looked at the ingredient label on a jar of mustard and why there were so many additives and flour in the condiment. This inspired him to do research about mustard and different recipes and make his own mustard at home. Justin tested his own recipes—using only the absolute necessary ingredients—with feedback from his housemates and friends. Soon, Justin created the first flavor that ended up being sold from Mustard and Co.: Honey Curry. He said this flavor was developed as he somewhat enjoyed honey mustard and was cooking frequently with curry powder at the time.

Justin had an entrepreneurial spirit—he had friends who owned businesses and did other cool things such as organize music festivals, and he felt this was something he wanted to go into as well. He also stated that another influence that led to the development of his mustard business was the show FoodCrafters, where artisan food makers were featured. The business developed once Justin moved to Seattle with his recipes and the name “Mustard and Co.” and took a job at a food company. There, he met co-founder Bryan who had the idea of selling the mustards at farmer’s markets and was interested in working with the business side. And so, Mustard and Co. took off!

I enjoyed the Honey Curry mustard so much that I had to order some more flavors. According to Justin, Mustard and Co. frequently develops new flavors. Black Truffle was created after a request from a retailer and Red Miso, their newest flavor, is a variety that was crowd-sourced.  I went with Ballpark Black Pepper, Chipotle, and of course, Red Miso. 

Once the jars were in my hands, it was a no-brainer to bake some soft pretzels and taste all of the flavors! Each flavor was unique and had the mustard “zing” that I look for. Mustard and Co. products are different from what you usually get at the grocery store because they use raw mustard seeds that are never subject to heat. Processing mustard with heat is what rids mustard of its spiciness, which is why many companies will add horseradish into their recipes. Since Mustard and Co. makes sure to cold-process their mustards, it allows their final products to be bold in flavor.

Here’s what I thought about the three flavors I ordered:

• The Ballpark Black Pepper is a yellow mustard done really well. You get two different types of “kick”—one from the ground mustard and one from the black pepper. I’ve had it both with the fresh-baked pretzels and on a burger and personally, I think it’s best on a cheeseburger with all the fixings.
• The Chipotle is kind of nuts, in a really good way! It is incredibly spicy, which is great when paired with something dense like pretzels. I think it would be great on a fried chicken sandwich or made into a salad dressing with some balsamic vinegar.
• The newest flavor, Red Miso, is probably my favorite. It isn’t as spicy as the others because the earthiness of the miso balances things out, and it’s also more savory than the other varieties. I’ve made baked salmon using this mustard and a touch of Mike’s Hot Honey, and it’s definitely a dinner that I will be making again.

The selling point of Mustard and Co.’s mustards are the fun flavors and the fact that they create a high-quality condiment. I find myself reaching for these more often than I reach for my regular dijon mustard because they add a little something extra something to whatever I’m eating them with. In fact, I’ve made sandwiches with deli ham, Swiss cheese, and Honey Curry mustard over and over again. I highly recommend that you also make some pretzels, grab a few beers, get some mustard, and have a little party at home!

Learn more about Mustard and Co. and buy their mustards at www.mustardandco.com!