The Sicilian mustard recipe is a blast from the past for me. One of those countryside desserts that you wait for every year when September arrives, during the grape season, and that you immediately recognize by its scent when entering your grandmother’s kitchen.
It is a simple dessert based on grape must spiced with cinnamon and cloves, enriched with walnut kernels or toasted almonds and which is transformed into pudding.
The old farmer’s method for the preparation of the must, the main ingredient of mustard, takes place by boiling it. After boiling the must, the farmer adds a handful of wood ash and lets it rest for a few hours. You won’t believe it but the must becomes very clear and loses that sour hint. It is then filtered and ready to be cooked as I will describe in the recipe below.
There is no added sugar as the grapes must is naturally sweetened by the sugar contained in the fruit.
Ingredients
Steps
– Pour the starch into a pan and slowly add the cold grape must, stirring quickly with a whisk so as not to cause lumps to form;
– once a cream has formed, pour in the remaining must and place everything on the stove over a low heat;
– cook the Sicilian mustard until it thickens, a few minutes before finishing cooking, add the ground spices and the lightly crushed almonds (or walnut kernels);
– grease the saucers and/or pudding bowls or ceramic molds with some extra-virgin olive oil, then pour the mustard mixture into each one, immediately add the dried fruit to decorate the surface;
– allow to cool on a work surface covered with a cloth until the mustard solidifies completely;
– after at least 3 hours have passed, remove the Sicilian mustard from the molds and serve it. You can store it in the fridge up to 3 days.
Varied doses for servings