Thursday, April 4, 2013

Historic Mustard Mill Monschau - Historische Senfmühle Monschau


Monschau Mustard is widely known as Moutarde de Montjoie. On a visit to the Historical Mustard Mill Monschau founded in 1882, one can learn how mustard is made from mustard flour and various addititional ingredients. The Moutarde de Montjoie has been produced in the Monschau Mustard Mill for more than 120 years and to this day the mustard is manufactured using traditional methods. Today the fourth and fifth generation of owners runs this family-owned enterprise.




Originally powered by a water wheel, the mill has undergone numerous changes but is still operated with the old belt transmissions.




The Mustard Mill is famous across borders because of the 19 different varieties of mustards and mustard blends that are manufactured there.




Aside from the original mustard called “Ur-Rezept”, a mustard that goes well with almost any dish, cold or hot, visitors can also taste about 18 other creations and buy them in the adjoining shop that also carries quite a few other regional specialties such as jams, chutneys, brandies and such unique products as mustard liquors and mustard chocolates. There is also a wine cellar that carries a vast array of wines.




The mustard blends offered include mustard with chili, currants, English curry, fig, garlic, ginger/pineapple, green pepper, honey/poppy seeds, horseradish, lemon, orange, Riesling, tarragon, tomato and wild herbs with ramson.




The mustard seeds that are the main raw material for the manufacture of the Moutarde de Montjoie, come from Canada, Sweden, Eastern Europe, as well as Asia. A distinction has to be made between yellow and brown mustard seeds, the typical sensation of "heat" on the tongue is more pronounced in brown mustard seeds than in the yellow variety. The ratio between brown and yellow seeds as well as the other added flavoring ingredients will thus determine how fiery or mellow of a mustard or mustard blend the creation will turn out to be.




Historically, mustard was established as an indigenous crop, initially in Germany and in France, by around the 10th century. British cuisine discovered it in the 12th century. In the 13th century, new mustard mixtures were developed specifically by the French in the city of Dijon, which has since remained renowned for its mustard.




The Dijon recipes were special because of the French practice of mixing the ground seeds with “must”, the young, unfermented juice of wine grapes, thus substituting the vinegar traditionally used in blending mustard. The French “moutarde”, the English “mustard”, and the German “Mostrich” all reflect this particularity.




There is also a Restaurant next to the Historic Mustard Mill called “Schnabuleum”. It is a lovingly restored restaurant that seats up tp 56 guests on two floors and an outdoor patio. While there, you can sample a variety of mustard dishes and numerous regional and seasonal specialities prepared by chef de cuisine Heinrich Leipold and his team.




The delightful menue in the Restaurant includes such creative dishes as Monschau cream of mustard soup (Monschauer Senfcremesuppe), char with a mustard-thyme crust (Saibling unter einer Senf-Thymian-Kruste) or for dessert a honey poppyseed mustard parfait (Honig-Mohn-Senf-Parfait).




For more information on the Historic Mustard Mill Monschau and the Restaurant Schnabuleum, please click here:

www.senfmuehle.de







16 comments:

  1. What a gorgeous place to visit! I love the building, and the idea that a small company is doing this manufacturing. And the restaurant sound wonderful. I love it when you show us beautiful places from your country!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Beth, thank you very much - this is a place that I had been wanting to visit for quite some time now and finally found the time to do so during the Easter holidays - now I want to go back as soon as possible. We tasted and bought quite a few different mustards and I cannot wait to use them in different recipes.

      Delete
  2. Wow, your pictures blow me away! I have always wanted to visit Germany... I missed out when I was studying in Europe and did not get to go with my friends to Berlin. I am glad I stumbled upon your blog!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you very much for dropping by, Ashley - so glad that you enjoy my blog, hope you will be back to "visit" and maybe thereby get to know more about Germany even if it is only in a virtual kind of way.

      Delete
  3. Your photos are beautiful! Looks like an interesting place to visit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the lovely comment, Brad - I am glad that you enjoed the pictures of this unique historic mustard mill, it is certainly worth a visit.

      Delete
  4. What a fantastic place to visit. Love the pictures. I need to visit Germany.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Geraldine, thank you - woulnd´t it be nice to meet in EU and visit some of the places that we have discovered lately?!

      Delete
  5. Oh, how interesting. I was interested in all the restaurant offerings except the parfait. I just don't know if a mustard parfait appeals to my palate. I don't think I've ever heard of Moutarde de Montjoie. Maybe they don't export to the States but I will keep my eye out for it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mary, I am sure that you would love this historic mustard mill and its restaurant and the dishes they serve there, even the parfait, it actually does not taste like mustard I was told, just unique and delicious but i have yet to taste it.

      Delete
  6. There are lots of places in Japan where family business continues many generation. Living in California, where it doesn't have a long history, we don't find stores like that. It's not easy to run business for such a long time. I enjoyed your pictures and thanks for sharing with us!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nami, the Eu have many such places and while it is impossible to visit most of them, we are trying our best to visit as many as possible - it is always a fun and interesting excursion.

      Delete
  7. Mustard liquor and mustard chocolates?! I had no idea...what a wonderful field trip and to think that the mill has been working for 120 years. Thanks for sharing it with us!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elaine, yes, you can actually find mustard liquor and chocolates there but the mustard as an ingredient only lends a depth of flavor, a hint of "spicyness" to the products, it is actaully quite delicious and can probably be compared with adding other savory ingredients such as salt or even chili to ice cream, chocolates and alcohol - overall a very intriguing and delicious taste experience.

      Delete
  8. I had to smile reading this post Andrea. Senf is one of the first German words that I learned as I love mustard. I also have to say that when I'm in Germany and want to ask for some mustard, I sometimes get flustered and my word usually comes out sounding more like snef and people look at me questionably. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Karen, now you make me smile, whatever you call it, be it "Senf" or "Snef", it does taste wonderful and the mustard from this particular historic mustard mill does indeed taste delicious and it is always a great feeling finding these kind of places with a lot of history and very dedicated owners/manufacturers.

      Delete