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I've started making mustard at home recently and wondered if I could make similar preparations from vinegar and other seeds, for example fenugreek.

The result I'm trying to achieve is a palatable paste made from vinegar and a seed or seeds other than mustard seed. The paste might be used for purposes similar to those for which mustard is used, for example as an ingredient in salad dressings, a spread in sandwiches, or a dip for sausages.

Have you tried this, or do you have an opinion on whether the resulting preparation is likely to be palatable? Are there any culinary seeds that are more or less likely to be suited to making this type of preparation?

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  • This is way too broad, you can use many seeds for many things. What is the result you are trying to get? – GdD Aug 26 '13 at 11:33
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    The result I'm trying to achieve is a palatable paste made from vinegar and a seed or seeds other than mustard seed. In order to achieve this result, I'm seeking advice on which seeds might be best to experiment with. The question is not 'what are some things I can do with seeds', which I agree would be far too broad to answer succinctly or canonically. – James L Aug 26 '13 at 15:44
  • I would add more detail to the question. I assume you want a mustard-like paste that would be used in the same scenarios, e.g. with salad, sausages, etc. I would help you formulating, but I lack the terminology. – mike Aug 26 '13 at 17:25
  • I added some more detail to the question. Perhaps it's clearer what I'm thinking about doing now? If not, please let me know. – James L Aug 26 '13 at 17:55
  • "Palatable" seems too subjective to get good answers, and I agree with the comments that the question is too broad. – Laura Aug 26 '13 at 18:50
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Palatable is a very vague term. I think that some seed and vinegar preparations would have promise (sesame seeds and rice vinegar, perhaps lightly sweetened?), but others would be horrible (I can't imagine a caraway & vinegar paste being good for most things). Even a condiment that would normally be gross (the caraway one mentioned) could be good in the right applications, for instance in a sandwich tailored specially to use it.

I'd think this would be a good instance to just try out some formulations based on known flavor combinations and see how they work for you.

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  • One would also have to ask, given the wide spread availability of vinegar, why other such condiments have not already been invented and become popular.... – SAJ14SAJ Aug 26 '13 at 18:27
  • @SAJ14SAJ: I'm guessing it has to do with vinegar's ability to arrest the development of spiciness in mustard. If you prepare a paste of ground-up flavorful seeds (including mustard) in water, the result is likely much too, uh, flavorful. But what happens with mustard is that, if you add vinegar, it stops getting spicier. Add the vinegar at the right point, and you have a paste that is better than the plain seed. This isn't true with any other seed that I know of. – Marti Aug 26 '13 at 18:49
  • @SAJ14SAJ That is a good point. I know of a few condiments that use both vinegar and seeds, but most are very different from mustard in that they also have several other key ingredients. – SourDoh Aug 26 '13 at 18:55
  • I think you're probably right that experimentation is the only way to go here. @SAJ14SAJ also makes a good point; if there were good combinations to be found it's likely that someone else would have already discovered and popularized them. – James L Aug 26 '13 at 19:40

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