Episode
Why is Mustard So Special? A Pope, a Secret Recipe, and a 5,000-Year Lie!
- Podcast
- Family Tree Food Stories
- Published
- Apr 16, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1583
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Summary
The food history nobody taught you: pharaohs buried it, a Pope staffed it, Napoleon obsessed over it, and your squeeze bottle is still lying about it. A Pope loved mustard so much that he created a Vatican job, “ The Great Mustard Maker ,” just to make sure he never ran out. Napoleon loved it so much that he built Dijon's identity around it. And that bright yellow color you've trusted your entire life? That's the color that comes from an entirely different plant! Surprise? In this episode of Family Tree Food & Stories , Nancy May and Sylvia Lovely spoon up everything mustard. From ancient Egyptian tombs to French royal courts, your own kitchen refrigerator, and more, there’s history and tradition brewed into that jar or squeeze bottle. Believe it or not, it was the Romans who accidentally named it. And when one special ingredient creates a chemical reaction, that’s where the bite you know from every cookout and ballpark hot dog happens. Oh, and you think that’s all? Your favorite everyday condiment has been sneaking in health benefits onto your plate without you knowing, one spoonful or squirt at a time. But this episode of Family Tree Food & Stories gets even more personal. One of Nancy’s friends, Sasha, shared how her grandmother from Odessa made a homemade mustard so incredible that her soldier husband traded jars of it during wartime because his buddies couldn't get enough. That recipe is still deeply guarded by the family today. Nancy and Sylvia also go head-to-head in a blind mustard tasting and compare family-founded brands like # Plochman's , # Colman's , and Nancy’s personal obsession, # TerrapinRidgeFarms , whose # SmokyMapleBaconMustard is made by a woman-owned company in # Clearwater, #Florida. She’ll fight anyone in the grocery store aisle for the…