Mrs Clements: The enterprising Northern woman who brought mustard to our dining tables

In 1720, Mrs Clements hit on the idea of grinding mustard in a mill, like flour, although it’s possible she picked up the idea from 15th century Durham Cathedral monks.

She took mustard seeds, grown at Houghall Farm, near Shincliffe, Co.Durham, removed the husks and stalks, and ground the pure seeds into a pungent fine powder.

Word quickly spread and the entrepreneurial Mother of Mustard soon headed to London, where George I was so enamoured with the new recipe he patented it.

With Royal approval, this new style of mustard became popular and soon good old Mrs Clements, of 73 Sadler Street, Durham, was travelling all over England, taking in orders.

Dry mustard, therefore, was introduced in the year of the South Sea Bubble financial collapse and led to the manufacture of containers originally called "blind casters" such as those used for sugar and pepper, commonly in the "lighthouse" design.

Mrs Clements' business was later taken over by a stationer called Ainsley but, in the face of stiff competition from abroad, Durham mustard ceased production, passing into the hands of Colman's of Norwich and thereafter known as English Mustard.

I gather one can still buy a jar "Mrs Clements" brand from the revived East India Company.

A small but dedicated band of collectors hunt down antique receptacles for both dry ground mustard and, more usually nowadays, for prepared, ready-to-use mustard in pots with glass liners, often blue.

Some rarities, occasionally in porcelain but more often in silver, can be worth up to £2,000 but many antique pots in good condition (and with their spoons) can still be picked up at auction for £100-£400.

Unusual designs (more rare with mustard than pepper, presumably because they are more difficult to clean), are attractive to collectors and an 1881 silver one modelled as an owl chased with feathers and with hinged head studded with glass eyes recently made £1,720 at Tennants.

Also in Leyburn, a George III pot from 1788 fetched £930, an 1818 pair of by the celebrated Paul Storr went for £560 and another Georgian pot, by Robert Cattle and James Barber, York, 1810, realised £595.

Several also went under the hammer at Woolley & Wallis, of Salisbury, Wiltshire, with a William IV silver caster, by Creswick & Co., of Sheffield, 1830, making £230 and four silver pots dating from 1786-1832 going for £115-£150 each.

Back to the etymology and history of mustard... the English word derives from the Anglo-Norman "mustarde" and Old French "mostardet".

Wet mustard has been around for thousands of years, with the yellow paste used in the courts of the Zhou dynasty of China (1046 BC-256 BC) and by the Romans to flavour cold and hot meats.

The great medieval houses of Europe often employed a "mustarder" and the early use of mustard paste as a condiment and a pick-me-up in England is mentioned in "The Forme of Cury", a collection of recipes penned by master cooks of Richard II in 1390.

In Britain, Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire is usually associated with mustard because the plant was grown there commercially.

It was in Durham, as we have seen, that mustard was first introduced to our dining tables.

An 1825 edition of "Mechanics' Magazine and Journal" recorded: "Mrs Clements as regularly as twice a year travelled to London, and to the principal towns throughout England, for orders, and the old lady contrived to pick up not only a decent pittance, but what was then thought a tolerable competence."

The firm she founded in the 1720s used the head of the Durham Ox as a trademark - a logo later acquired by Colman's of Norwich when it swept away its competitors from the 19th century.

A few final words on collecting antique silver mustard pots, now highly sought after, particularly those with attractive, unusual designs.

Their value depends on appearance and craftsmanship and they should be undamaged, with clear hallmarks, crisp detail and well-fitting lids and hinges. There are almost no examples of "wet" mustard pots until the reign of George III (1760-1820).

To end on a personal note, I always buy mustard powder and mix it with a little water. It's a bit fiddly but you can make it to your taste and, unlike pre-mixed mustard with all those additives such as citric acid, there's only one ingredient: mustard seeds.