Paris herself again in 1878-9 Volume 2
George Augustus Sala
Paperback
(RareBooksClub.com, March 6, 2012)
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1879 Excerpt: ...claim, I believe, to be the largest holders of this spirit in the world. Prominent among the prize-winners in the alimentary department of the British section, the importance of which it would be mischievous to undervalue, are the firm of Messrs. J. & J. Colman, to whom two Gold Medals have been awarded, one for mustard and another for starch. In the course of my tours through the restaurants of Paris I have more than once had occasion to complain of the shortcomings of the French-made mustard, nor are the French themselves backward in confessing that the native condiment leaves much to be desired. They strive to conceal its deficiencies by adding to it aromatic substances, or the flavour of olives, anchovies, and shalot, and in some cases the mustard-seed is preliminarily steeped in the lees of wine. The chief fault of French mustard is that it is deficient in pungency, falling very far short of Colman's excellent preparation in this respect; and as the French are growing day by day to be more and more a nation of beef-eaters, lack of strength in their mustard is a drawback which they cannot continue to overlook. I read the other day an amusing advertisement of a new mustard, with some fantastic name, which was guaranteed 'd'attaquer les narines les plus recalcitrantes'--to titillate the most obstinate nostrils; but I have sniffed energetically at that mustard, and it has not made me sneeze. The utility of a really pure and powerful mustard, again, is not wholly culinary. The condiment has very powerful medicinal virtues; and if you are afflicted with rheumatism, with a cold at the chest, or with bronchitis, and stand in need of a mustardplaster, you certainly do not want the mustard to be flavoured with anchovy or tarragon vinegar. Ever since the exhi...