| Prepared mustard is made from mustard seeds and other flavouring ingredients. There are three types of mustard seed: white (Sinapis albis, which are actually yellow), black (Brassica nigra, which, confusingly, are brown), and brown, sometimes called Indian (Brassica juncea), which are light brown and milder than the black seeds. The black seeds are exceedingly pungent; they’re also difficult to harvest, volatile and thus more expensive. White seeds tend to be much milder but can have the fieriness of the black, depending on how they’re prepared.
At one time in Britain, whole swathes of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire were given over to growing black mustard seeds, and acres of Cambridge and Essex for white. White mustard seed also has preservative qualities, which is why they are often included in pickling spices.
Mustard seeds are used extensively in Indian cookery especially bengali and south asian cooking.
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