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Mostarda di Cremona recipe


silverbrow

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Fortedei, now I'm a bit confused. I thought senape was just the translation of the word mustard....

Senape is to mustard as parmigiano-reggiano is to grana. They are both cheese, closely related, both very good in their own way, but with a world of difference in taste.

Senape is most often translated as mustard. In fact, it comes from the white seeds of the mustard plant.

I don't think this is correct. Senape is an Italian word that refers to exactly the same things that the english word "mustard" does. If tou ask for senape in an Italian restaurant, or in an supermarket they will bring you something pretty similar to what you would get in England or France. Made from the same types of seed. Perhaps you meant to say that your prefer Italian mustard to French mustard or English mustard.

There are a variety of different but related plants called mustard: brassica nigra, brassica hirta, brassice juncea and brassica alba.

A few moments of googling found this useful website about

mustard.

Unfortunately, you and I are not speaking of the same thing. The senape I was referring to is not found in Italian restaurants in Italy. It has nothing to do with the mustard one sees on a table, Italian, French, English or any other kind. I am referring to the senape you get in an apothecary. This is the same "essence" that Divina referred to as well as Steven C (who said the essence was still moto forte, thirty years after his nona bought it). I must have been going to Italian restaurants in Italy for the last thirty-five years with "senepeless" Italian friends, for I've never heard one of them ask for senape. What food does one order and then ask for senape? I'm curious.

If you're in Italy, or if not, the next time you are, go into an apothecary and ask for senape. You'll see what is used in mostarda.

p.s. The web site you mentioned is not very helpful with regard to the senape used for mostarda. The sections on mustard do not mention Italy at all except for translating white mustard and black mustard into Italian and even then the site doesn't know the correct Italian word for "white." The search function did not return any hits for mostarda which as you know is not like mustard. :smile:

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Fortedei, now I'm a bit confused. I thought senape was just the translation of the word mustard....

Senape is to mustard as parmigiano-reggiano is to grana. They are both cheese, closely related, both very good in their own way, but with a world of difference in taste.

Senape is most often translated as mustard. In fact, it comes from the white seeds of the mustard plant.

I don't think this is correct. Senape is an Italian word that refers to exactly the same things that the english word "mustard" does. If tou ask for senape in an Italian restaurant, or in an supermarket they will bring you something pretty similar to what you would get in England or France. Made from the same types of seed. Perhaps you meant to say that your prefer Italian mustard to French mustard or English mustard.

There are a variety of different but related plants called mustard: brassica nigra, brassica hirta, brassice juncea and brassica alba.

A few moments of googling found this useful website about

mustard.

Unfortunately, you and I are not speaking of the same thing. The senape I was referring to is not found in Italian restaurants in Italy. It has nothing to do with the mustard one sees on a table, Italian, French, English or any other kind. I am referring to the senape you get in an apothecary. This is the same "essence" that Divina referred to as well as Steven C (who said the essence was still moto forte, thirty years after his nona bought it). I must have been going to Italian restaurants in Italy for the last thirty-five years with "senepeless" Italian friends, for I've never heard one of them ask for senape. What food does one order and then ask for senape? I'm curious.

Well, my children like to have mustard with steak sometimes. I have tried to talk them out of it, but without much success :sad:

Actually, I don't think we disagree. I stand corrected because I think that the Italian word senape does have a different denotation to the Enlglish word mustard since it also refers to the stuff you get in a chemist. (or apothecary for the more antique flavour). Though what would you translate that into English as?

Though, I think we do disagree since the stuff you are talking about would normally be referred to as "essenza di senape" rather than "senape".

I just don't like arguments of the type: "The wine they make in country X is not really wine at all: it is just fermented grape juice. The only real wine is that made in zone Y of country Z". It confuses a normative-aesthetic judgment (perfectly valid) with a completely bogus linguistic judgement,

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Nowadays, Senape is mustard as most of us know it.

Kids are having mustard and mayo on sandwiches and it is common now to find in grocery stores...

Thanks to McDonalds?

Yes I also use Senape for Essence too...

Depends where I shop!

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  • 1 year later...

Does anyone have a good recipe for mostarda di Cremona or any Emilia Romagna mostarda? We just returned from ER and my wife loved this stuff, and we want to put some in our Christmas dinner tortelli di zucca!

She tried several internet recipes and none seemed to produce the syrupy, even runny, sharp mostarda we had in Zibello, Bologna, Modena, etc. The two recipes she tried produced a thick, jammy mostarda and most had mustard seed, which is not what we had there.

I did find a former post that discussed using "senape" instead of mustard. Is this "mustard oil" that we get in the U.S.? We definitely are looking for that punchy bite that the ones in ER had.

We especially would like a recipe that uses our apples. Of course, we can put apples in place of any fruit mentioned in the recipes.

Thanks.

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Does anyone have a good recipe for mostarda di Cremona or any Emilia Romagna mostarda? We just returned from ER and my wife loved this stuff, and we want to put some in our Christmas dinner tortelli di zucca!

She tried several internet recipes and none seemed to produce the syrupy, even runny, sharp mostarda we had in Zibello, Bologna, Modena, etc. The two recipes she tried produced a thick, jammy mostarda and most had mustard seed, which is not what we had there.

I did find a former post that discussed using "senape" instead of mustard. Is this "mustard oil" that we get in the U.S.? We definitely are looking for that punchy bite that the ones in ER had.

We especially would like a recipe that uses our apples. Of course, we can put apples in place of any fruit mentioned in the recipes.

Thanks.

I think you will find if you check the topic that the conclusion seems to be that senape and mustard oil are NOT interchangeable and that even in Italy senape is not easy to obtain. I recently spoke with someone who said it was available in Italy in pharmacies.

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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Mario Batali's recipe for Mostarda di Cremona from Molto Italiano is fairly runny and quite hot. It may not meet all your criteria, since it does use mustard seeds along with dry mustard and (being Batali) hot red pepper flakes. I have made it several times and always to rave reviews. He calls for fresh pear along with a variety of dried fruits, so I would think you could sub your apples. I have juggled the proportions using more pear and dried figs and cherries and less raisins and it's always fantastic. I serve it as he suggests with coppa (mild) for a starter.

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From what I understand, U.S. mustard oil is not senape.

Senape must be purchased from an Italian pharmacy, it is incredibly strong and dangerous stuff to work with. Dangerous in the sense that you do NOT put the bottle up to your nose and sniff it or you will literally burn out your sinuses.

I've brought it back for different chefs who were unable to source it in the U.S...and these guys know how to source ingredients, so you may have to go with the Batali recipe until your next trip to Italy.

And, oh, I wouldn't declare it!! :laugh:

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I had my parents bring me the "essenza di senape" from Italy a few years ago as i was going to make mostarda. It has to be bought in pharmacies as a number of people have said, but i do not believe it is an oil, in fact, mine evaporated.

Basically i thikn you need to have someone get it for you from Italy.

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I had my parents bring me the "essenza di senape" from Italy a few years ago as i was going to make mostarda. It has to be bought in pharmacies as a number of people have said, but i do not believe it is an oil, in fact, mine evaporated.

Basically i thikn you need to have someone get it for you from Italy.

Yes, "essenza di senape" is the correct term. "Senape" tout court is what you put on your wurstel. It is the essential ingredient in mostarda and is hard to find even in pharmacies, I believe, but that is where you start looking.

Maureen B. Fant
www.maureenbfant.com

www.elifanttours.com

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This thread has convinced me it's time to make another batch. My brother-in-law makes wine (it's good) and gives us a case for xmas every year so it would be nice to give them something home-made. They aren't exactly vegetarians, but they don't eat much meat and probably no pork. They do like very hot spicy foods, though. What might I suggest they eat the mostarda with, assuming salumi is not their cup of tea? Shrimp? Vegetables, cooked how?

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This thread has convinced me it's time to make another batch.  My brother-in-law makes wine (it's good) and gives us a case for xmas every year so it would be nice to give them something home-made. They aren't exactly vegetarians, but they don't eat much meat and probably no pork. They do like very hot spicy foods, though. What might I suggest they eat the mostarda with, assuming salumi is not their cup of tea? Shrimp? Vegetables, cooked how?

Sharp cheeses

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Can senape be mailed without concern within europe? (taking proper precautions of course)

My attempts to get anyone heading to Italy to bring me some back to Canada have so far been unsuccessful. I will be in Belgium in February and if it could safely be mailed perhaps I could have some waiting for me to smuggle home.

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Kerry, I tried to dig around to find the flash point of senape, or any info on the volatility and I came up empty.

Flash points on some essential oils are surprisingly low. That being said, wrap it in a lot of bubble wrap and go for it. Spills or a broken bottle would be a bad thing.

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I got a small bottle from a friend whose son is a flight attendant and regularly has flights to both France and Italy. The entire top of the bottle was sealed with a rubbery substance (I first thought it was red wax) and the entire bottle was shrink-wrapped. He then put it inside a thick plastic container with a screw top. His carry-on is never in an unpressurized part of the plane.

It only takes a couple of drops to "flavor" a pint of syrup in which the fruits are immersed.

I haven't prepared the sauce type (or "chutney" type as a friend calls it). We like the whole fruit type, it's not quite as strong.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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A good friend of mine brought me back a bottle of Senape from his trip to Italy, haven't used it yet. Looks like this weekends project!

john

John Deragon

foodblog 1 / 2

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I feel sorry for people that don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day -- Dean Martin

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Isn't this known as mustard?

Nope! If you start reading at the beginning of this topic you will see that this question was addressed early on.

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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A good friend of mine brought me back a bottle of Senape from his trip to Italy, haven't used it yet.  Looks like this weekends project!

john

Just be careful!! Weinoo has told me of your enthusiasm....don't be tempted to sniff and taste. Trust in the power of the senape......

:laugh:

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They give me an eye-dropper when I buy mine.

10 drops to a kilo of fruit in syrup to start!

open away from face!

DO NOT BREATHE IN!

even when they sell it to me, she holds her breathe and away from her face.

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I'm pretty sure that customs wouldn't necessarily understand the need for this:

gallery_6902_5187_80733.jpg

I purchased a few bottles of this at a beautiful farmacia in Bologna during our recent trip - the pharmacist needed to special order it, but it came in the next morning - haven't experimented yet, and I'm looking forward to seeing/tasing johnder's results.

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

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So now I need to figure out which one of you I can convince to send me some in Belgium!!!  There's chocolate in it for you!!!

Are there no import stores in your area?

In addition to the Italian product, there is one made in Sweden, that is used in pickles (mustard pickles, naturally) and is essentially the same food product, as opposed to the "stuff used on the skin for chest congestion."

I just learned this while chatting on the phone with a basenji breeder who lives in Sweden and whose mother still makes her own pickles, pickled herring and other "homey" foods. (And doctors the family with home remedies, including the famous mustard plaster, which Mia states she and her siblings took care to always exhibit a facade of good health to avoid!)

She has given me some great recipes since I first met her in the late '70s so I am pretty sure she knows her stuff.

She spelled it for me - senapsessens olja -

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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