3 ms·

To wit: if your mustard isn't a powder that smells of a chemical agent banned under international treaties on warfare that you need to reconstitute with water b

To wit: if your mustard isn't a powder that smells of a chemical agent banned under international treaties on warfare that you need to reconstitute with water before it becomes only mild poison, you haven't experienced the full mustard spectrum. There's a reason mustard gas is banned. But no clear reason why Colman's isn't.

a1369209993 4y ago
> There's a reason mustard gas is banned. But no clear reason why Colman's isn't. Sure there is - it's a substance that can't be easily vaporised, aerosolized, or otherwise distributed over a large area, and is consequently wholely ineffective as a large-scale weapon. Whereas mustard gas is only mostly (and sadistically) ineffective[0] as a large-scale weapon, and so makes it into the category of "war crimes that are worth specifically banning, since anyone would ever actually bother commiting them". 0: https://acoup.blog/2020/03/20/collections-why-dont-we-use-chemical-weapons-anymore/ https://acoup.blog/2020/03/20/collections-why-dont-we-use-ch...
- TheRealPomax 4y ago
  Tell me you never opened a tin of Colman's without telling me you never opened a tin of Colman's
eth0up 4y ago
A story of mustard, a Russian, and a feeble pansy boy: I once got the bright idea to challenge my friend who often irritated me with his imperviousness to what should be apocalyptic things. I proposed, in a state of misguided confidence, to do a shot of mustard oil. Mustard oil is a generally unknown ingredient in the green imposter most of us recognize as wasabi[1]. It's vicious. Anyway, he accepted the challenge, gulping the shot of mustard oil with a sweet grin of eagerly anticipated schadenfreude. I reluctantly took my own as pledged. The wretched agony that ensued! I writhed and squirmed in an almost hallucinatory pain until I was brought a bushel of fresh basil. Desperate, I chomped every leaf and stem and within minutes was well again, but have not forgotten. Mustard can be dangerous. But I do love Colman's. 1. Most 'wasabi' isn't wasabi.
- TheRealPomax 4y ago
  It's still amazing that at no point in modern history we went "actually, why is it legal to call this a thing that it isn't, not even remotely". Imagine if a bunch of companies all sold jars of sticky substance labelled "honey" but with the ingredients list being "high fructose corn syrup, water, natural colouring and flavouring". Truly baffling.
denton-scratch 4y ago
English mustard powder doesn't have to be reconstituted; it's very good rubbed into a beef roast. It helps make a nice crust. Mustard powder is also good in salad dressings (mustard is an emulisfier). It makes cheese sauce cheesier (I don't know how that works), so it's great in the topping for Welsh Rabbit. For these purposes, Dijon doesn't "cut the mustard" (sorry). I've never liked English mustard paste as a condiment, nor that horrid dark brown stuff referred to as "French mustard", that has never been anywhere near France.

a1369209993 4y ago

> There's a reason mustard gas is banned. But no clear reason why Colman's isn't. Sure there is - it's a substance that can't be easily vaporised, aerosolized, or otherwise distributed over a large area, and is consequently wholely ineffective as a large-scale weapon. Whereas mustard gas is only mostly (and sadistically) ineffective[0] as a large-scale weapon, and so makes it into the category of "war crimes that are worth specifically banning, since anyone would ever actually bother commiting them". 0: https://acoup.blog/2020/03/20/collections-why-dont-we-use-chemical-weapons-anymore/ https://acoup.blog/2020/03/20/collections-why-dont-we-use-ch...

TheRealPomax 4y ago
Tell me you never opened a tin of Colman's without telling me you never opened a tin of Colman's

eth0up 4y ago

A story of mustard, a Russian, and a feeble pansy boy: I once got the bright idea to challenge my friend who often irritated me with his imperviousness to what should be apocalyptic things. I proposed, in a state of misguided confidence, to do a shot of mustard oil. Mustard oil is a generally unknown ingredient in the green imposter most of us recognize as wasabi[1]. It's vicious. Anyway, he accepted the challenge, gulping the shot of mustard oil with a sweet grin of eagerly anticipated schadenfreude. I reluctantly took my own as pledged. The wretched agony that ensued! I writhed and squirmed in an almost hallucinatory pain until I was brought a bushel of fresh basil. Desperate, I chomped every leaf and stem and within minutes was well again, but have not forgotten. Mustard can be dangerous. But I do love Colman's. 1. Most 'wasabi' isn't wasabi.

TheRealPomax 4y ago
It's still amazing that at no point in modern history we went "actually, why is it legal to call this a thing that it isn't, not even remotely". Imagine if a bunch of companies all sold jars of sticky substance labelled "honey" but with the ingredients list being "high fructose corn syrup, water, natural colouring and flavouring". Truly baffling.

denton-scratch 4y ago

English mustard powder doesn't have to be reconstituted; it's very good rubbed into a beef roast. It helps make a nice crust. Mustard powder is also good in salad dressings (mustard is an emulisfier). It makes cheese sauce cheesier (I don't know how that works), so it's great in the topping for Welsh Rabbit. For these purposes, Dijon doesn't "cut the mustard" (sorry). I've never liked English mustard paste as a condiment, nor that horrid dark brown stuff referred to as "French mustard", that has never been anywhere near France.