About the Mustard!

About a week ago, I took a gastronomy tour of Dijon offered by the Office of Tourism and aptly titled "Saveurs et Piquant."  This almost 2-hour tour focused on the top three specialities of this region (outside of wine) - - Mustard, Pain d'epice and Cassis.   It was  rainy Friday and that worked to my advantage.  I was the only person that showed up and had the private tour in..of course, French.

This post focuses on the mustard and future posts will uncover other delicious delicacies...

When we think of Dijon, we think of Dijon Mustard. What surprised me the most was to learn that:

1.  Most of the Mustard is produced in Canada.  Dijon Mustard does not have protected designation status and so if you follow the recipe, mustard made anywhere can be rightly called "Dijon Mustard".
Fortunately, there is "Moutarde de Bourgogne" that has protected status and requires that at least 30% of all the mustard seeds come from this region.

2. Famous Dijon Mustard brands - Maille and Amora are owned by Unilever.

3. At Maille, one can buy seasonal collections of mustard (see above for new Fall flavors).