Anija's Mustard

You've all seen photos of me, namely, that one nagging set of photos of me and Rick Salomon doing the nasty with night vision lighting. What a mistake that was. But anyhow, you've seen my face, and if you've seen me, you'd know it's no secret that I harbor an affinity for deep-fried foods. Namely, the mean batch of French fries I make. They're short and stumpy. I'm short and stumpy. What's not to love? This came up in conversation with the missus, and like discussions of abortions and methods of serial murder, I tried to change the subject. Secretly, I could not contain my glee. Keepitcoming also enjoys fried foods! This could open a whole new gateway of enabling and eating in our relationship. I mentioned these fries, and she seemed curious and willing to eat them.

I decided to make a test batch myself. Y'know, for research purposes. Can't have my girlfriend eating these spuds if they suck. I needed something to dip them in, though, and we were out of honey mustard. What's a girl to do? Luckily, I'd just been sent a triad of dipping mustard from Anija, who learned the secrets of Finnish mustard making from her mother.Of the three varieties, spicy pepper, hot and sweet, and lime, I believe that lime was my favorite. The mustard is textured on the thick side, but doesn't get gluey, and has a little creaminess, too. This creaminess lends itself well to the tangy citrus flavor. The mustard is pretty hot, but more of a clean horseradish hot than a spicy, peppery hot. I found myself ambivalent on this spice front, as I like more of a spicy hot.

The tang cleared out my nostrils and made my nose run a little, but it wasn't too overwhelming. It did overpower the flavor of the fries, which I topped with the mustard. Lime and potato, not the best combination. Maybe gravlax. Maybe ham.The plain and spicy mustard tasted the same, unfortunately. Same horseradish kick, same thick texture, but unfortunately, nothing that made me want to go back for round two. It just dominated the potatoes, poor little things. With spiciness, I'm just as pleased with an ample balance of sweet, like honey, but with all the salt in this, it was imbalanced and not very palatable.If I made these fries again, I might be inclined to use sweet potatoes and serve them with this mustard. Otherwise, I'd be just as happy eating them alone, which is exactly what I did. And then I practiced some guitar in the altogether. Sometimes the life of a food blogger isn't as glamorous and daring as it ought to be.