Fruit *cheese* / Quince paste / Cotognata

[joancassell]

Divina, Thanks for the response. I'll try the store that has Indian foods in St. Louis. If I can find the senape (in St. Louis, or with your help), I'm perfectly willing to spend 3 days making a large quantity (After all, I spend that much time making gravlax, which I then freeze and eat and eat and eat! And it takes even longer to make preserved lemons.)

[divina]

it is called mustard essence here in Italy and is liquid.

people start off with 10 drops for a kilo, but I like a kick in my mostarda!

here in Florence I buy it at Bizzarri, downtown.

in the north they buy it in pharmacies.

Hold it away from you when you work with it.. DO NOT INHALE

I found some new stuff where people are making a very thick simple syrup.. and adding the essence to it...

have had berries and chestnuts done this way.WOW

[joancassell]

I found something from India called "unfiltered mustard oil" at an ethnic grocery here (the Missouri saleslady said cheerfullyL "if it's weird, we got it!"). I don't know if it's as strong as the Italian essence, but when good fruit is available here, in May or June, I'll try to make Mostarda. Should you find an internet or mail order source for the Italian essence, I'd be grateful if you'd pass it on. I found a recipe on the Internet similar to yours, but it called for reducing the syrup each day. What do you think?

Edited April 27, 2007 by joancassell (log)

[Marcsch]

I found something from India called "unfiltered mustard oil" at an ethnic grocery here (the Missouri saleslady said cheerfullyL "if it's weird, we got it!").  I don't know if it's as strong as the Italian essence, but when good fruit is available here, in May or June, I'll try to make Mostarda.  Should you find an internet or mail order source for the Italian essence, I'd be grateful if you'd pass it on.  I found a recipe on the Internet similar to yours, but it called for reducing the syrup each day.  What do you think?

←

I purchased mustard oil at an indian grocery here, and it's not the same thing. Mostarda, in my experience, has a wonderful horseradish-like "kick" at the end of the delightful sweet taste. This mustard oil was far too mild to provide that. I could easily put my nose to the bottle without being overwhelmed.

I have also searched the web, looking for a source to mail order the Essenza di Senape, with no luck. As a matter of fact, I asked a colleague working in Milan to bring some over for me for a recent meeting, but she was nervous that she'd get in trouble with customs at the airport, and instead brought me some mustard powder, and the instructions to dissolve it in hot wine

Does anyone know of any source for this, anywhere outside of italy? Unfortunately, work doesn't take me there much but it does get me to other places in Europe and the US, and I'd love to be able to make Mostarda on my own.

Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to provide.

Marc