Fermented foods can make a great addition to your festive celebration table and are especially good if you make them yourself.

A quick and simple thing that you can make is mustard. Mustard can be used in so many recipes, from a simple ham and mustard sandwich, to spectacular salad dressings. Mustard is so easy to make, and is something that can be appreciated by most adults, doubling as a welcome gift.

Simple Cultured Wholegrain Mustard
¼ cup brown mustard seeds
¼ cup yellow mustard seeds
1 tbsp salt
½ cup cold water — make sure this is filtered or rain water, the chlorine in scheme water may affect fermentation.
¼ cup starter culture — can be kombucha, yoghurt whey, brine from fermented vegetables. This is not essential, but does speed fermentation up and add flavour. If not using a starter culture, make sure that more liquid is added.
¼ cup apple cider vinegar or red/white wine vinegar
1 tsp honey or brown sugar to taste

• Grind mustard seeds and salt until seeds are just cracked. You can do this in a mortar and pestle, blender, or coffee grinder. The mustard can also be blended to a smoother texture later, when adding the vinegar and honey.
• Add water and starter culture. Leave with lid on for 3 days at room temperature out of direct sun.
• Stir in vinegar and honey after the 3 days.
• Put into sterilised jars, label and enjoy or put on a ribbon and give away.

Mustards tend not to go bad, but they do dry out and lose flavour. The vinegar and salt in this recipe help maintain the flavour.
Once you know the basic recipe, the flavour options are endless. Try:

– Using different ratios of yellow and brown mustard seed
– Flavouring the water by adding wine, beer, garlic, herbs, spices or onions and boiling, straining and cooling before adding to the mustard seeds, or even use straight wine or beer instead of water
– Adding tumeric to give the yellow colour of American mustard
Mustard in the Dijon style is made with brown mustard seeds with verjuice and white wine. The wine choice is typically from the Dijon region of France, where mustard plants are grown under the grape vines as a companion crop. Mustard leaves are highly nutritious and have many health benefits, for us as well as for the soil, making them a great addition to the garden.