17/09/2026
Over the last two days at the open tasting, your mustard maker has once again had the pleasure of welcoming a few ‘I don’t like mustard’ people to the Mustard Station. And, as always, it turned out that it isn’t the mustard itself they don’t like, but (merely) the pungency that some mustards send up your nose.
C₄H₅NS is the chemical formula for the pungent oil that is responsible for the characteristic, nose-stinging heat in mustard.
In biochemical terms, the sharpness of mustard isn’t a flavour, but a 'chemical defence mechanism' of the mustard plant that triggers our trigeminal nervous system.
Whilst flavour gently stimulates the olfactory receptors, the mustard oils trick the system: They activate pain receptors, which mistakenly signal to the brain that there is a ‘burn’ what we recognise as pain.
For some palates, this fleeting pain stimulus provides a sudden ‘burst of freshness’, which in turn intensifies the perception of flavour.
And it is precisely this pain stimulus – as your mustard maker understands that all too well – that not everyone wants to experience when enjoying their mustards. And this is why your mustard maker uses the black mustard seeds (they are responsible for this effect) only very, very sparingly.
So, now you know... and as I sometimes say at tastings: ‘with my mustard, your brain is protected’ :-)
Next open tastings: Monday 21st and Tuesday 22nd September at the Mustard Station in Leverburgh
