Cutting the mustard
by planetparker
The oriental leaves we sowed a few weeks ago are producing a great crop of edible leaves. Over the weekend I spent most of my time taking advantage of the good weather, munching away on handfuls of oriental mustard, washed down with copious draughts of Polish lager, while listening to M&M.
The oriental mustard, also known as mustard greens, is in fact distantly related to the cabbage. Its botanical name is Brassica Juncea. It is beloved of Chinese cookery. It is also adored by the Meo or Hmong people of Vietnam. These Montagnards converted in large numbers to Christianity during the colonial period. They also earned a reputation, perhaps undeserved, of collaborating too closely with the Americans.
Oriental mustard is distinct from the mustard we grow in mustard and cress collections. This has the botanical name of Sinapis alba, and its seeds are one of the essential ingredients in the condiment mustard.
