In the wake of all the current news about lusty priests in the Catholic Church, we humbly bring forth a condiment that has nothing to do with any of that. Lusty Monk Mustard was one of those finds from Albuquerque that I have been really enjoying since my return. Sure, I tried plenty of spicy mustards…but this one was unique compared to the others. At the very least, it has a unique story to it:

In medieval Europe, there was a widespread belief that mustard was an aphrodisiac. As a result some monks were forbidden to eat mustard, lest they fall prey to carnal desires. Other monasteries embraced mustard making and turned it into an art form. We salute these “lusty monks,” and in that grad tradition, we handcraft our mustard in small batches, with all-natural ingredients that would make our monastic predecessors proud.

Ingredients: vinegar, mustard seed, mustard flour, water, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (chipotle peppers, tomato puree, vinegar, onion, sunflower seed oil, sugar, salt, paprika, and garlic), salt, spices

Initial impression: Nice professional-looking label and is a nice thick, grainy mustard. The packaging overall makes it look like something from a gourmet shop. Very potent aroma as well. There is no doubt that this is anything but mustard, although I don’t detect any smell that indicates the chipotle within it.

What I like about it: I have to premise my reaction by the fact I tried the regular Lusty Monk mustard and was impressed by it. I would have SWORN that the mustard was loaded with horseradish, but the pungency and mouth feel was purely due to the way the mustard seed was processed for this product. For a so-called “regular” mustard, it was pretty darn spicy.

That said, this mustard adds the earthy chipotle to their base recipe and the result is excellent. While not being terribly spicy (perhaps 4-5/10 or so), it excels in flavor that combines a hint of chipotle and strong mustard-y bite. This mustard is pretty darn thick as well, so you simply must scoop it from the jar.

What I don’t like about it: It is much more a dominant mustard taste than of the chile peppers. In fact, it lacks that characteristic smokiness that I think of with chipotle products. Because of the mustard oils, this product must be refrigerated. This makes it lack the shelf-stability of other similar mustard.

Overall recommendation: This mustard is totally the shizznit on sandwiches, and I have polished off about a third of the eight-ounce jar solely with that use. Great as a dipping sauce as well, particularly with that added spice to it. I didn’t have a chance to whip up some deviled eggs or egg salad, but I suspect this would make those rather pedestrian choices something special. What’s also great about this mustard is that I can also see how there would be room to take the base mustard and make a habanero or other spicier version as well. If you don’t like mustard, then this isn’t for you. However, save this jar for baseball season and enjoy a little on your favorite ballpark hot dog. Yum!