Mustard

Mustard, the teeny seed that packs a big wallop, is not only an effortless way to spark flavor in food but one of the easiest condiments to prepare from scratch at home. Though it has been cultivated since prehistoric times, mustard has never really required cultivation, since it is a weed that grows wild in practically every region of the world. There are three types of mustard seed. Black mustard is the most pungent, followed by brown mustard (sometimes called Indian mustard)

I recently rummaged through my refrigerator and found several jars of mustard, none of which taste like the bright yellow stuff my mother slathered on my grilled cheese sandwiches. Nestled next to the hot sauce and a bottle of horseradish were two jars of French Dijon mustard - one smooth, one whole- grain - a spicy brown Polish-style mustard from Chicago, and a fiery Creole mustard made in Philadelphia. Dijon, the capital of Burgundy, is also the mustard capital of the world: Mention Dijon, and many folks automatically think mustard.

I suppose I'm like many people in that I'm a sap for the syrupy sentimentality of the Christmas season. Just let me hear any carol, Crosby singing Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" or even Jimmy Boyd's "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" - and I'm numb with nostalgia. I can vividly recall my most memorable Christmas. Born in South Philadelphia, I was raised by my maternal grandparents in their old brownstone home on the 2600 block of Hutchinson Street between 9th and 10th streets.

Ketchup is the condiment that covers the Earth these days, but it was not always so. From prehistory until the turn of this century, or possibly a bit later, mustard was the universal ready-made relish. The very earliest users didn't actually make mustard, they simply popped in a few seeds and chewed them along with their meat, thus seasoning as they ate. But by Roman times, cooks were soaking ground seeds in barely fermented grape juice to make a product that would be recognized today, and our word mustard comes from their term mustum ardens (burning wine)

A customer at a gourmet cheese shop in the Washington area had looked in vain for weeks for a particular mustard to which she had become addicted. But it was nowhere to be found. Asked why the mustard, an intriguingly creamy, hot and sweet champagne mustard, was so hard to find, the shop owner told the customer: "It is made by two little ladies in some tiny town in Pennsylvania, and they are so old that their production is limited. " Diantha Nason and her partner, Tony Spallone, think that is a charming and funny tale.

For about a year, the people who knead people in the Spa at the Four Seasons Hotel have not been the luckiest people in the world. They were trying to put together a new massage themed directly to the city, a Philadelphia pretzel massage. They could twist you OK, but they couldn't find anything appropriate to rub all over you. They couldn't get the mustard to work right. Well, they took a different path - or in Philly, maybe a cobblestone alley - and on Oct. 28, the Four Seasons will roll out rubs linked, you might say loosely, to Philadelphia.

Here's how we like our dogs, from coast to coast: East: Consumes more all-beef hot dogs than any other region. South: Second to the West in its consumption of poultry dogs. Many local varieties are piled with vegetables ("dragged through the garden") and topped with cole slaw. Midwest: Consumes more pork-and-beef franks. West: Consumes more poultry dogs than any other region. TOPPED DOGS Berkeley - Lettuce and tomatoes. Chicago - Onions, mustard, dark green relish, kosher pickle, tomatoes, peppers, celery salt on a poppyseed bun. Detroit - Meat sauce.

PRETZELS, YES, MUSTARD, NO, for 3 1/2-year-old cousins Adam Conboy (left) and Brett Kelly as they relish the JFK Plaza scene in the afterglow of their first SEPTA train ride. No mustard? "Too messy," said Adam's father, Charles Conboy, who accompanied the youngsters from Roxborough yesterday morning on a mini-adventure that included a stroll around City Hall.

The oldest tree in the cathedral-like heart of Saddler's Woods - a regal, 400-year-old white oak - soars toward heaven. I gaze upon its majesty with Janet Goehner-Jacobs, the executive director of the Saddler's Woods Conservation Association (SWCA). The head of an all-volunteer army that nurtures the tree and 25 surrounding acres of Haddon Township, Goehner-Jacobs politely interrupts my meditations. "Can I ask you to move your foot?" she asks. "You're standing on her baby.

Among more exotic varieties of greens, mustard spinach, water spinach (with slender, pointed leaves), and chrysanthemum greens (all Asian, the latter an edible kin to the familiar floral type) are tender enough to mix raw in salads or use as last-minute additions to stir-fries or soups. Mizuna (Japanese mustard greens) have sawtooth leaves and a mustard tang used to accent mesclun mix or soup. Tatsoi (Chinese flat cabbage or spinach mustard) is kin to bok choy, with spoon-shaped leaves and a spinachlike flavor.

"Hot dogs are like marks of each city," says Keith Garabedian, chef and co-owner of Hot Diggity, and that idea was his starting point in dreaming up the regional menu for his weeks-old hot dog shop on South Street. His favorite is the Big Kahuna: a juicy, slow-cooked, all-beef Sabrette frank topped with pineapple salsa, guava mustard, and habanero aioli. Don't knock the Seattle Grunge, which is slathered in garlic cream cheese, until you've tried it. Traditionalists can order the Bronx Bomber, sauced with spicy brown mustard, kraut, and red onion.

ICE ON the streets formed quickly, so I'm led to believe the city didn't get enough salt down under the snowfall. Briny treatments don't cut the mustard when it's cold. It's going to be a long weekend and a rough Monday. For this second major hit, I'm thinking a C-minus for Mayor Nutter. Frank Graff, Philadelphia

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - Crews have begun decontaminating an Atlantic City-based clam boat that was isolated off New Bedford after it pulled up munitions shells tainted with mustard gas. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Jeff Hall said officials hoped the ESS Pursuit would be free to leave by Thursday. He said cleanup crews were relying heavily on bleach, which dilutes the mustard gas, and elbow grease. The crew pulled up two shells with its catch Sunday off Long Island. The next day, crewman Konstantin Burndshov was hospitalized with blisters from the gas exposure.

The oldest tree in the cathedral-like heart of Saddler's Woods - a regal, 400-year-old white oak - soars toward heaven. I gaze upon its majesty with Janet Goehner-Jacobs, the executive director of the Saddler's Woods Conservation Association (SWCA). The head of an all-volunteer army that nurtures the tree and 25 surrounding acres of Haddon Township, Goehner-Jacobs politely interrupts my meditations. "Can I ask you to move your foot?" she asks. "You're standing on her baby.

As the Phillies embark on another defense of their National League crown, let us pause for a scientific analysis of their firepower. We speak not of the mighty bats of Howard and Utley, but of actual firepower: The hot dog launcher. The curious propulsion device, wielded at select home games by the Phillie Phanatic, got its annual tuneup last week and was in action for the first time this season. A tank of compressed nitrogen. Projectiles of processed protein. A shaggy, green creature smacking the "fire" button.

I have fallen deeply in love with mustard greens. Spicy Japanese mustard greens. It didn't happen overnight. At first, the attraction was superficial and pragmatic: I was looking for edible splashes of purple to add to the front-yard garden I was planting. I wanted shades of purple that would harmonize with the dark plum trim on my house. "Red Giant" and the milder "Osaka Purple," two Japanese mustard varieties commonly available as transplants in local nurseries, fit my parameters perfectly.

Among more exotic varieties of greens, mustard spinach, water spinach (with slender, pointed leaves), and chrysanthemum greens (all Asian, the latter an edible kin to the familiar floral type) are tender enough to mix raw in salads or use as last-minute additions to stir-fries or soups. Mizuna (Japanese mustard greens) have sawtooth leaves and a mustard tang used to accent mesclun mix or soup. Tatsoi (Chinese flat cabbage or spinach mustard) is kin to bok choy, with spoon-shaped leaves and a spinachlike flavor.

There will be no Olympics in Philadelphia. Yesterday, the city was eliminated by the U.S. Olympic Committee from what had been a five-city competition to become America's candidate to host the 2016 Summer Games. Surviving the cut were Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Houston joined Philadelphia in falling by the wayside. The decision, announced by USOC president Peter V. Ueberroth at an afternoon news conference in Denver, ends the local push earlier than organizers had hoped or expected.

Pretzel rods swathed in prosciutto and melon. A chocolate hazelnut torte with a crumbled pretzel crust. Soft pretzels with curried beef baked inside. And a variation on the classic Roman speidino - an egg-battered and fried pretzel sandwich with prosciutto and cheese. That's just a sampling of the creations Philly chefs have planned for this month's celebration of our town's favorite snack food - the pretzel. Led by the Independence Visitor Center, Philadelphia is ramping up for its first serious celebration of National Pretzel Month, one of those typically ignored calendar notations.

This was the moment Dorsey Levens had been waiting for. And the moment Eagles fans had dreaded. Brian Westbrook sat on the bench late in the fourth quarter yesterday with his gear off, out of the game with a bruised chest. Westbrook, who had 43 yards on 13 carries when he came out, is scheduled to be examined today to determine the extent of his injury. That left Levens, the 34-year-old running back, as the man on the spot in the backfield. "It's nice to show what you can do," Levens said.