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Gulden's or Grey Poupon?


jayandstacey

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It depends on what I'm choosing it for. A basic hotdog gets French's, as does a meatloaf or sloppy joes. A bologna sandwich gets Gulden's. A grilled cheese gets Grey Poupon. A potato salad gets either Gulden's or Grey Poupon. We just cleaned our refrigerator and almost one whole shelf in the door is mustards.

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(And for the record, Dijon ketchup is for sale in the same store as the green dresses.)

Not a real green dress, that's cruel!

My mustards:

- Corn dog - french's or honey mustard

- Hebrew National hot dog - gulden's, sometimes grey poupon

- bratwurst - Gulden's

- other hot dogs - volume matters, I find other dogs kinda gross and need lots of any mustard to choke em down.

- slow cooked corned beef - a kind of "stone" mustard that costs a lot but is perfect and kept just for this reason.

- kielbasa - guldens

- fondue meats - grey poupon and chinese mustard as dips

- egg rolls, spring rolls - chinese mustard

- grilled cheese - french's with american cheese, gulden's with swiss or cheddar

- pretzel - grey poupon or french's

- hamburgers (to include hellburgers) - gulden's

- ham sandwiches - boiled ham, or as part of an italian sub - french's. Otherwise Gulden's.

- McDonald's french fries - McDonald's hot mustard usually for the McNuggets.

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Right now, I just have grey poupon. My favorite is Plochman's, but I can't seem to find it at the commissary anymore. My son asked me to pick up bologna today, " & get the YELLOW mustard!"-I'm assuming this is French's?

Not a mustard, but a great addition to sandwiches (& other stuff, too)-Dietz & Watson's muffuletta mix; since discovering it,we've gone through so much, I'm thinking about stockpiling it, in case it disappears...

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I've somehow become addicted to Grey Poupon Country Style. I have seven or eight mustards on hand at any given time, but that one's been a go-to lately.

(And for the record, Dijon ketchup is for sale in the same store as the green dresses.)

I'm big on the country style as well. I use it in marinades and for heartier sandwiches. I'll sometimes throw in the whole grain for a bit more texture (in a potato salad or something).

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Löwensenf

For this and a dazzling array of German mustards (which I have to admit I'm not really very fond of), Rodman's is the place to go, and no, I have no financial stake in Rodman's. They carry two or three brands of the sweet Bavarian mustard that is the required condiment for weisswurst. To get weisswurst, though, you should probably go to the German Gourmet in Falls Church, where they also carry an array of German mustards. French mustard, that is, Dijon mustard is more to my taste, but nowadays it seems impossible to find a jar that hasn't lost most or all of its piquancy, which is a source of severe irritation, if not despair. French's mustard, the bright yellow stuff, on the other hand, belongs on a hot dog but only at a ballpark. In my correct opinion.
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For this and a dazzling array of German mustards (which I have to admit I'm not really very fond of), Rodman's is the place to go, and no, I have no financial stake in Rodman's. They carry two or three brands of the sweet Bavarian mustard that is the required condiment for weisswurst. To get weisswurst, though, you should probably go to the German Gourmet in Falls Church, where they also carry an array of German mustards. French mustard, that is, Dijon mustard is more to my taste, but nowadays it seems impossible to find a jar that hasn't lost most or all of its piquancy, which is a source of severe irritation, if not despair. French's mustard, the bright yellow stuff, on the other hand, belongs on a hot dog but only at a ballpark. In my correct opinion.

Rodman's also carries Roland dijon, which is my preferred brand. It has always been reliably piquant.
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Rodman's also carries Roland dijon, which is my preferred brand. It has always been reliably piquant.

You know, I don't think I've ever tried it. Thanks for the tip. (Unlike Trader Joe's, Rodman's tends to keep carrying the same stuff, so I'll probably find the Roland's mustard on the shelf when I visit this weekend.)
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For me the mustard of choice, for cooking and everything else, is Maille. It is piquant but also round and adaptable. It binds a vinaigrette better than any other mustard, including other authentic Dijons, that I have tried. But there are variations in the product. The small jars you can get at Safeway and elsewhere are made in Canada and are significantly sharper than the big jars, which are imported from France. I've seen the latter only at Williams-Sonoma, where I used to pick them up for about $11, but they no longer carry them. I bemoaned this fact to a sales manager at the Galleria W-S. His response: "You mean the MALE mustard. Yeah, well, since places like Safeway and Giant carry it now, we decided there was no need for us to do so anymore." Poor ignorant bastard.

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Maille. It is piquant....

I wish my experience aligned with yours. Years ago, Maille was among my favorites, but more recently, after buying jar after jar at many different shops and finding them all between 0% and 20% of the full piquancy I expect, I rarely buy it any more. One expedient I have adopted is mixing up some strong mustard powder with water and a little vinegar, and mixing it into commercially prepared and no-longer-strong Dijon mustard, which gives me the nice flavor of Maille or other Dijon and adds back some of the heat that is missing. (I recommend Penzeys' Oriental Canadian Mustard Powder (Hot), which I guess is from the extreme eastern part of Canada.) One of the cruellest jokes ever played upon my long-suffering self was when I found this new product, Maille Extra Strong, and foolishly bought a jar. Not only was it not extra strong, it had absolutely no piquancy whatsoever. None. Presumably it did when it was put into the jar, but there was utterly none left when I opened it. I did find a jar of Trader Joe's private label Dijon (dunno who makes it, but it's really from Dijon) that was pretty kicking-hot, a few weeks ago, but other jars of the same stuff have disappointed.
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Or are you rolling with the French's?

So many mustards, so little time. When you choose, what do YOU choose?

I have at least six diffrent kids in my refrigerator. Guldens, French's, Maille dijon, Pommery, something German in a tube, lemon-tarragon dijon, and a salt-free stoneground for when I'm on my iodine-free diet.
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I wish my experience aligned with yours. Years ago, Maille was among my favorites, but more recently, after buying jar after jar at many different shops and finding them all between 0% and 20% of the full piquancy I expect, I rarely buy it any more. One expedient I have adopted is mixing up some strong mustard powder with water and a little vinegar, and mixing it into commercially prepared and no-longer-strong Dijon mustard, which gives me the nice flavor of Maille or other Dijon and adds back some of the heat that is missing. (I recommend Penzeys' Oriental Canadian Mustard Powder (Hot), which I guess is from the extreme eastern part of Canada.) One of the cruellest jokes ever played upon my long-suffering self was when I found this new product, Maille Extra Strong, and foolishly bought a jar. Not only was it not extra strong, it had absolutely no piquancy whatsoever. None. Presumably it did when it was put into the jar, but there was utterly none left when I opened it. I did find a jar of Trader Joe's private label Dijon (dunno who makes it, but it's really from Dijon) that was pretty kicking-hot, a few weeks ago, but other jars of the same stuff have disappointed.

I guess the "round and adaptable" part is more important to me. In French-influenced cooking, which is mostly what I do, I find the nutty, vinous quality of Maille works better for sauces and pan reductions than the sharper, more vinegary taste of other versions. If I want a sharp mustard I can always find it in one form or another, but the type of Dijon Maille represents (or used to represent--all the stuff here now is made in Canada) is harder to find.

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I've seen the latter only at Williams-Sonoma, where I used to pick them up for about $11, but they no longer carry them. I bemoaned this fact to a sales manager at the Galleria W-S. His response: "You mean the MALE mustard. Yeah, well, since places like Safeway and Giant carry it now, we decided there was no need for us to do so anymore." Poor ignorant bastard.

Wait, they don't carry the big jars anymore? Damn. :( That was only thing I ever bought there.
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I find the nutty, vinous quality of Maille works better for sauces and pan reductions than the sharper, more vinegary taste of other versions.

I entirely agree that heat is not important when using mustard in a sauce--it doesn't usually survive the cooking even if present at the start.
If I want a sharp mustard I can always find it in one form or another
I wish I could say the same, but alas I cannot.
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My mustard hoarding days are behind me - I get by on five or six kinds nowadays - but I gotta give some love to Colman's, the canonical English mustard. Colman's Prepared is the only way to go with bangers & mash, if your nasal passages can stand it.

Hee :( One of the spouse's former coworkers made the mistake, on her first visit to England, of assuming that Colman's was the same as French's, since it does look pretty similar if you don't know any better, and when presented with a hot dog someplace put a French's-size splodge of Colman's on her hot dog and took a bite. Apparently there was much screeching.

Oh, and you have to keep an eye on the prepared Colman's, as well - some, but not all, of the prepared stuff in the little glass jars is made either in Canada or New Jersey and is not as potent as the mustard made in England. We've been getting squeezy bottles shipped over since the spouse deemed the North American prepared version unacceptable and we couldn't find the English version at a reasonable price.

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Rodman's also carries Roland dijon, which is my preferred brand. It has always been reliably piquant.

Zora, I won't say that you've sold me a bill of goods or ruined my life or anything, but I finally got around to buying a jar of Roland Dijon mustard at Rodman's today, and it had exactly zero piquancy. I am being quite literal: Zero. (And it was labeled "extra strong".)
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Zora, I won't say that you've sold me a bill of goods or ruined my life or anything, but I finally got around to buying a jar of Roland Dijon mustard at Rodman's today, and it had exactly zero piquancy. I am being quite literal: Zero. (And it was labeled "extra strong".)

Like horseradish, mustard does tend to lose intensity over time--too bad they don't put a manufacturing date on the label. Roland dijon has always suited my taste, which may be different than yours. I have gotten killer hot mustard at the German Gourmet store--the kind I got comes in a miniature dimpled beer stein-- I found it to be too spicy--but you may not trust me now that the Roland fiasco has occurred. Why not make your own mustard? It's not that hard. Then you can be assured that it will be fresh and spicy. Go to Penzeys and get freshly ground mustard seed, or grind your own mustard seeds in a mortar or electric coffee grinder.
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Why not make your own mustard? It's not that hard. Then you can be assured that it will be fresh and spicy. Go to Penzeys and get freshly ground mustard seed, or grind your own mustard seeds in a mortar or electric coffee grinder.

Thanks, and actually I do mix up my own mustard sometimes, or add fresh mustard powder and water to a limp Dijon to give it some heat. The latter expedient seems to work better than the all-homemade version, which never seems to have the fullness of flavor that a good Dijon mustard exhibits. But it used to be, you'd buy a jar of Dijon mustard and it would be hot, seriously hot, and nowadays it never seems to be that. Back in the 1980s, even French's had a Dijon mustard (with the ludicrous name "Vive la Dijon") that was seriously hot and very good. Then they reformulated it "for American tastes", and having ruined it I believe they discontinued it.

By the way, the Roland mustard I bought today doesn't have a manufacturing date, but it does have a "best by" date of June 2010, which may indicate a manufacturing date of June of 2009, although who knows. And the "extra strong" characteristic promised on the label, it seems to me, was put there merely to mock me. Anyway, between the time I became aware of food and now, many things have changed greatly for the better in the US (fresh mushrooms! fresh herbs!), but the mustard situation has really fallen through the floor. If this is my chief dissatisfaction in life, I suppose I should be counting my blessings.

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Thanks, and actually I do mix up my own mustard sometimes, or add fresh mustard powder and water to a limp Dijon to give it some heat. The latter expedient seems to work better than the all-homemade version, which never seems to have the fullness of flavor that a good Dijon mustard exhibits.

Though not a Dijon, dry mustard powder, a little sugar, and white wine, makes a good strong and hot mustard. Let it sit in the fridge for a few days for the best effect. It can rival Coleman's for heat if you get the proportions right. You can add a little salt, but it is not really necessary. Still, keep some Grey Poupon on hand for meat marinades.

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(Unlike Trader Joe's, Rodman's tends to keep carrying the same stuff, so I'll probably find the Roland's mustard on the shelf when I visit this weekend.)
I've felt the same way about Rodman's, but they don't seem to stock Pommery mustard anymore. Is there an alternate local source?

Best price I've found on-line is at WorldsFood.

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