One pot

The evening was a little cooler last night, so out came a cardigan. The season is definitely changing. Our guests however were keen to enjoy their champagne and canapés in the garden, and it was still just warm enough to sit outside.

Brian was serving a Brut by Charles Jolly, and I’d made some cheese gougères which I served with some sliced, locally made sheeps sausage, that I’d bought at the Friday market. It was all rather pleasant.

We moved indoors to the salle à manger for dinner. Brian had cooked us a juicy ‘faux filet’ (sirloin), and I’d made a tomato salad with tomatoes from the garden, and some boulangère potatoes. Obviously we couldn’t serve steak without Dijon mustard on the side.

Unfortunately though there is currently a little problem with Dijon mustard in France, as it is in short supply. Shelves in the shops have become completely empty of it since Canada experienced a severe drought, and war descended on Ukraine. Some 80% of french mustard seeds are grown in Canada, but the drought conditions there have halved the production levels. Seed from the Ukraine would normally fill the gap, but obviously not this year. This leaves just the French mustard seed producers, but they have just not been able to produce enough. When the shops do have supplies it is rationed to one pot per customer, so there’s enough (almost) to go around. It is used most days in french culinary life, so one pot does not last that long. In fact, it is estimated that the average French person consumes around one kilogram of mustard per year. How long does your pot of mustard last?

There is hopefully some good news, as brown mustard seeds from Burgundy should be ready by the end of September and, fingers crossed, Canadian imported seed will begin again in December also. All being well, Dijon mustard will be back on our French shelves as normal next year.