5 ms·

We did have had horseradish and mustard, so not completely devoid of spicyness, but certainly not as pervasive as today.

ginko 5y ago
Don't forget pepper.
- smt88 5y ago
  Native to India, interestingly.
pjmlp 5y ago
Depends on the region, Portuguese mustard to this day is quite harmless in comparison with its German cousin. But yeah, there were some flavours still.
- sologoub 5y ago
  Seems the further east the spicer mustard gets - Russian mustard seems to be quite similar to what I tried in Chinese restaurants in US (but a lot thicker, the stuff in Chinese restaurants is runny). By comparison German stuff is much sweater. Horseradish sauces are another matter though!
  - Aengeuad 5y ago
    The east/west distinction probably isn't useful here beyond the observation that black mustard seeds are the hottest followed by brown and then yellow mustard seeds, and that western mustards tend to use yellow only or yellow and brown seeds. Something like English mustard is notoriously hot for instance.
  - chmod775 5y ago
    As a German, and I'm probably also speaking for Russians and Chinese here, I'm quite puzzled by this. We consume more than one kind of mustard, one of them being aptly called "Süßer Senf" - sweet mustard[1], which is pretty far from your ordinary mustard in every way. It isn't hot at all, mostly sweet. You wouldn't use it instead of regular mustard (or vice-versa). There's just no way "German mustard" is referring to anything specific enough to start making such comparisons. You'd have to narrow it down to regions of Germany to get anywhere, such as a Bavaria, the origin of sweet mustard. [1]: This likely being the most popular brand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A4ndlmaier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A4ndlmaier
    - pjmlp 5y ago
      Let me tell you that sweet mustard in Germany is still hot by Portuguese standards. If I gave you spicy Portuguese mustard you would think it was tasteless, by comparison. It took me quite a while to get used to the variants here, as in being able to actually digest them.
djmips 5y ago
I would not consider horseradish and mustard 'spicy'
- KozmoNau7 5y ago
  Then you haven't had the stuff that really crawls into your nose and sinuses. It's a diffent kind of hot to chili spicyness, but the burn is absolutely there. Or is this some kind of "nothing is too spicy for me" one-upmanship? Spicyness is useless if you don't have flavor to go along with it.

ginko 5y ago

Don't forget pepper.

smt88 5y ago
Native to India, interestingly.

pjmlp 5y ago

Depends on the region, Portuguese mustard to this day is quite harmless in comparison with its German cousin. But yeah, there were some flavours still.

sologoub 5y ago
Seems the further east the spicer mustard gets - Russian mustard seems to be quite similar to what I tried in Chinese restaurants in US (but a lot thicker, the stuff in Chinese restaurants is runny). By comparison German stuff is much sweater. Horseradish sauces are another matter though!
- Aengeuad 5y ago
  The east/west distinction probably isn't useful here beyond the observation that black mustard seeds are the hottest followed by brown and then yellow mustard seeds, and that western mustards tend to use yellow only or yellow and brown seeds. Something like English mustard is notoriously hot for instance.
- chmod775 5y ago
  As a German, and I'm probably also speaking for Russians and Chinese here, I'm quite puzzled by this. We consume more than one kind of mustard, one of them being aptly called "Süßer Senf" - sweet mustard[1], which is pretty far from your ordinary mustard in every way. It isn't hot at all, mostly sweet. You wouldn't use it instead of regular mustard (or vice-versa). There's just no way "German mustard" is referring to anything specific enough to start making such comparisons. You'd have to narrow it down to regions of Germany to get anywhere, such as a Bavaria, the origin of sweet mustard. [1]: This likely being the most popular brand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A4ndlmaier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A4ndlmaier
  - pjmlp 5y ago
    Let me tell you that sweet mustard in Germany is still hot by Portuguese standards. If I gave you spicy Portuguese mustard you would think it was tasteless, by comparison. It took me quite a while to get used to the variants here, as in being able to actually digest them.

djmips 5y ago

I would not consider horseradish and mustard 'spicy'

KozmoNau7 5y ago
Then you haven't had the stuff that really crawls into your nose and sinuses. It's a diffent kind of hot to chili spicyness, but the burn is absolutely there. Or is this some kind of "nothing is too spicy for me" one-upmanship? Spicyness is useless if you don't have flavor to go along with it.