Barry Levenson remembers the exact moment he knew there was a mustard museum in his future. It was October 1986 and the Boston Red Sox had once again choked up and lost the World Series.
”They couldn`t cut the mustard. Anyway, I was terribly depressed and found myself in Woodman`s supermarket, which is open all night, at 2 a.m. just wandering up and down the aisles.
”As I passed the mustards, I heard a voice in my head: `If you collect us, they will come.` Just like that.” To Levenson it seemed like a great idea, one that predated a similar idea made popular in the movie ”Field of Dreams.”
”I loved mustard as a kid. I grew up with Gulden`s.” Levenson goes on to say that among friends and acquaintances, people seem to have either grown up with Guiden`s or French`s; no one`s family ever seemed to use both.
Levenson began his collection by purchasing mustards from supermarket shelves. ”After the first month, I had about 50 or 60 different mustards. But I was getting the kind of `Big-deal,-my-cousin-has-th at-many-in-her-refrigerator` remarks.
”When I hit 300, those remarks had stopped, and I thought I must be near the end. At 400 I figured the next 100 would be tough. Now the mustard museum has approximately 579 mustards on display. I say approximately because I`m not completely caught up on the curating. And I have no idea how many mustards there actually may be out there.”
On one wall of the museum, a converted pumphouse, and above the computer that tracks the museum`s collections, is a framed piece of sheet music, ”Too Much Mustard” by Cecil Macklin. A tape of the song is played for all visitors to the museum. There also is a Johnson & Johnson Mustard Plaster tin contributed by a physician friend. Most important, perhaps, is a card from the game of Clue. One of the characters is Colonel Mustard, who, of course, is the patron saint of the Mount Horeb Mustard Museum.
The museum`s official T shirt hangs on another wall, the phrase ”It`s not just for hot dogs anymore!” emblazoned on the front, with the museum`s name.
The Mount Horeb Mustard Museum has just launched its own official mustard. Levenson explains how the mustard got its name.
”My wife, Pat, doesn`t even like mustard very much. So when I asked her what she thought our chances were of successfully launching a mustard, she said `two chances. . .` ” The name of the mustard? Slimm and Nunne. For this contribution, Pat received a Chief Detractor T shirt.
Levenson, a gourmet cook who makes his own baguettes, had been making herb mustards to give to friends and relations at holidays. They were popular but not as popular as the cinnamon honey mustard he concocted. People who received this one told Levenson he was onto something. It was unusual and it was good.
”I got a lot of repeat requests. After all, you can buy herb mustards;
there are plenty of those already on the market, but there`s no other cinnamon honey that I know of. Cinnamon honey seemed like a natural to me. When you bake a ham, what do you put on it? Honey, mustard, brown sugar. . . so I figured it might be a good combination and it was.”
Slimm and Nunne is great with pretzels. It`s also wonderful on ham, and best of all, Levenson reports, on the Slimm and Nunnewich. For that you take two slices of black rye or pumpernickel bread, spread with Slimm and Nunne. Place slices of aged brick cheese on one of the pieces of bread, top with freshly sliced onion, add the other piece of bread, eat and enjoy. Levenson is at work on other recipes, including a chicken Slimm and Nunne recipe.
Asked how he acquired the 579 mustards, which come from all over the world, Levenson says that once he got started, jars came from friends who picked them up on their travels and brought or sent them to the museum. Merchants who sell unusual mustards frequently contribute also.
The collection includes jars from the Duchess of Devonshire`s Coarse Grain Mustard with Mead and Honey to The Original Mrs. Dupey`s Hot Beer Mustard made at Padge`s Pastime in Cadott, Wis. Which illustrates Levenson`s point that the market is strong for what he calls boutique mustards. That is, mustards that are flavored with other ingredients like herbs, liquors, or spices or that are sold as souvenirs of a locale or area attraction.
”I think people are willing to pay a little more for a mustard with a different flavor or a label that`s appealing.” He shows a bottle of shallot chive mustard, beautifully packaged. ”I look at them almost as works of art. I like to think this is the Cooperstown of condiments.”
He says that American yellow mustard, like French`s and Plochman`s, is the most popular variety in the world. Mustards come in three colors, dictated by the color of the seed used: yellow, brown or black. Outside the United States, brown mustard is the most common, the base for Dijon-style mustards, as well as German and British mustards, among many others.
As a footnote to this, Levenson shows off a jar of Secret Stadium mustard, available only at Milwaukee`s County Stadium, home of the Milwaukee Brewers. As far as Levenson knows, the only other ”stadium” mustard is in Cleveland, Ohio, where a controversy between Authentic Stadium Mustard and Bertman Ball Park Mustard was settled by the fans with Authentic winning by a very narrow margin.
Levenson also publishes a newsletter ”three or four times a year” for those who wish to keep apprised of the fast-changing world of mustard. Called The Proper Mustard from the phrase ”to be the proper mustard” which means to be the real thing, the newsletter is available from the museum.
The newsletter contains reviews of mustard cookbooks, literary quotes about mustard, recipes for using mustard, thank you`s to contributors of the growing collection, and in one issue, an account of the official dedication of the museum which took place on October 7, 1989, attended by more than 100
”guests and trespassers.”
With Slimm and Nunne successfully launched, the museum`s collection growing apace, what are plans for the future? ”Well, I`m thinking about a mustard festival. And then maybe the sponsorship of an athletic event. You know everyone does fun runs. I`m thinking we`re going to have a 140-mile forced march-in January.”
On a slightly more serious note, Levenson would like to encourage people to share mustard recipes and adds that mustard needs to be promoted as a way to perk up a variety of dishes. ”People don`t realize that mustard is great in cooking, that it`s a very healthy product with virtually no fat or calories.”
Obviously, Levenson is dedicated to getting the American public to take mustard seriously while thoroughly enjoying himself.
