A Condiment that Really Cuts the Mustard

I don’t know about you, but I consider myself a connoisseur of condiments. Our home pantry is filled from top to bottom with all sorts of ketchups, marinades, relishes, mustards, sauces, chutneys, jellies and rubs. Does that make me a culinary oddball? Probably, so.

My father-in-law was truly a food purist, rarely ever pounding on the bottom of a ketchup bottle above a quality hamburger or steak. He believed that ketchup and mustard had no other purpose other than to mask the intended flavor experience enjoyed when eating Grade A beef in one form or another.

Perhaps, he had a valid point. Non-descript foods are given a boost and made tolerable enough to ingest when smothered in something other than grease. A fast food hamburger without ketchup, onions and pickle is sacrilegious. I hot dog without kraut, chili, chopped onions, relish and/or ketchup and mustard is unheard of. The problem is that many of the condiments offered up at fast food eateries are common, pedestrian and unremarkable. I find nothing redeeming about regular ketchup or plain yellow mustard, myself.

Fortunately, the adventurist foodie can find many variations on a theme when it comes to condiments. There are store out there that sell nothing other than hot sauces with hundreds of blends on their shelves. This is also true of mustards. They, too, come in many flavors.

On a recent trip to New England, Betsy and I stopped for lunch at a terrific Jewish Deli in Woodbridge, Connecticut called Katz’s. There we discovered Beaver Brand Deli Mustard, made in the great state of Oregon. Apparently, at Katz’s Beaver’s mustard is a big deal. They sell bottles of it to their patrons to take home and have quite a large inventory of it on some shelves near the cash register.

“Beaverton Foods has an international reputation for manufacturing quality products and the development of innovative condiment flavors,” according to their website. They regularly use ingredients like honey, horseradish, wasabi, garlic, cream, bacon and even cranberry and pineapple in their mustards to give them kick, sweetness and unique flavor.

The mustard we tried (on our corned beef and pastrami sandwiches) and later bought at Katz’s was “Beaver Brand Deli Mustard” with horseradish. The flavor was great with just the right amount of kick, without being overpowering and a consistency that I would call coarse, whole grain with mustard seeds. I love mustard seeds in mustard that flavor burst in your mouth when biting down on them. It’s the same sort of experience one gets when enjoying caviar on sushi or steel cut oatmeal.

Beaverton Foods must be something right with their condiment products. They’ve been in business for over eighty years (1929) and four generations of “beavers.” Today, they are recognized as the largest producer of non-refrigerated horseradish and specialty mustards in the United States.

Their story goes that in 1929 Rose Biggi started Beaverton Foods in the cellar of her farmhouse. To help endure the Great Depression, she began grinding her horseradish crop, bottling it, and selling it to local grocery stores. Through her hard work and perseverance, she not only survived the hard economic times, but also built the foundation of this now great American food manufacturer.

Calling it “The Mustard with the Biggest Cult Following,” a “Serious Eats” foods reviewer shared the following about this wonderful condiment in his/her review:

"Unbelievable stuff!”... "I'd just squeeze out a little bit on my finger and eat it raw." … "The favorite in our house."

So, why haven’t many of us heard of this great product before? The Beaver brand is easy to find all over the West Coast, and according to Beaver Mustard headquarters, parts of Chicago, Texas, Florida, and South Carolina—but beyond that, not so much. "Beaver has always been easier to find on the West Coast and Inglehoffer on the East," said representative Roger Klingsporn on the phone. That is why!

You can buy it online, though. Amazon.com offers it – FOR $17.00 A CASE! Believe me; a case is probably not too much to have around of this terrific mustard. According to Amazon.com, a case is only 6 bottles.

Wanna know what’s in Beaver Brand Deli Mustard? I thought you might.

Water, Mustard Seed, Vinegars (White Distilled, White Wine and Red Wine), Soybean Oil, Sugar, Salt, White Wine, Grated Horseradish Roots, Garlic, Eggs, Spices, Xanthan and Cellulose Gums, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Citric Acid, Turmeric High Fructose Corn Syrup, Lemon Juice, Calcium Disodium Edta (Retains Product Freshness), Artificial and Natural Flavors, Annatto, Red Chili Peppers, Ginger.

So, if you are hankering for a great hot dog or thick deli sandwich on rye, break out the Beaver and spread it liberally. Sorry, Dad-in-law, this one time a condiment really cuts the mustard.