Mustard goes gourmet

Any hot dog worth its bun deserves a squirt of tangy yellow mustard. As the world’s largest exporter of mustard, however, Western Canadian farmers don’t put all of their mustard seeds into a single yellow basket, says Blair Roth, a crop specialist with Agricore United.

These days, Western Canadian farmers grow yellow, brown and oriental mustards.  Yellow mustards are a traditional hit with ham and on sandwiches.  The brown varieties spice up Dijon mustards for gourmet markets, while oriental mustards give extra bite to sushi side dishes. And mustard does more than flavour.  Agricore United, for example, sells a de-heated mustard flour used as a binder in processed meats and in low-fat lines of mayonnaise, dressings and cheeses.

Alberta is Western Canada’s #2 producer – a rank based on 100,000 acres of mustard production a year.