Alpe Pragas Mostarda – Hot Fig Mustard
Alpe Pragas Mostarda Hot Fig Mustard Sauce is an intensely spicy combination of ripe figs and sharp mustard. Gently cooked with only a little sugar and lemon juice, the natural color and aroma of the ingredients are preserved. The fig mustard sauce is an excellent accompaniment to aged cow's, goat's, and sheep's cheese.
- a highlight with cheese and cold meats
- not only sweet, but also spicy and hot
- for refining dishes
- low sugar
- no artificial additives
- no preservatives
- free from colorings
- no artificial flavors
- gluten-free
- vegan
Alpe Pragas from South Tyrol has long been known for its excellent fruit spreads, some of which are made with fruits from their own cultivation. To also delve into exotic taste worlds, they decided in 2001 to produce a line of chutneys that would take into account both local fruits and the exotic history of chutney. In cooperation with star chef and author of several cookbooks, Gerhard Wieser, sophisticated recipes were developed that found a wide and interesting range of applications.
Stefan Gruber does not produce "Mostarda di frutti" in the classic sense; his mostardas are savory-sweet or sweet-spicy combinations of vegetables, fruits, spices, and mustard powder. His pleasantly spicy mostardas pair well with various cheeses, raclette and fondue, cold meats, or BBQ. They can be used to refine dishes, glaze duck breast or ribs. Thus, they are not only a perfect accompaniment but also an indispensable cooking ingredient. Find your favorite combination, your food pairing match.
Mostarda – a centuries-old Italian tradition
Mustard fruits – Mostarda di frutta are part of Italy's cultural heritage. They were already mentioned in A. Tassoni's epic "The Stolen Bucket" in 1621. At that time, mustard, also known as Mostrich, came from France, where it was already an indispensable spice in kitchens, to Italy. If you stroll through the shopping streets in Lombardy in Northern Italy today, you can see the colorful mixed fruits manually layered in huge decorative jars in the display windows of small delicatessens or cheese shops. But they are not just sweet, like candied fruits; no, they are piquant, spicy, and hot, which they owe to the mustard powder used in their production. Mostarda is available in a milder version, as in Cremona or Voghera, but also very hot, as is traditional in Mantua. Various fruits are used, such as oranges, mandarins, cherries, grapes, apricots, pears, and figs. Probably the most famous German manufacturer of Mostarda and fig mustard sauce is the company Barbieri. In terms of consistency, the famous Barbieri sauce, served with cheese, is more of a jelly, as the fruits are pureed for it.
But the mustard fruits not only form a dream pairing with cheese; they are also an ingredient in the filling of "Tortellini di Zucca," i.e., pasta pockets filled with pumpkin, as well as with Bollito misto. They crown crostini with Parma ham, as well as roast beef or grilled duck breast.
Fig Mustard Sauce – Preparation
First, the ripe fruit is peeled by hand, pitted, and cut into small pieces. Then it is mixed with sugar in a 2:1 ratio and left covered for 24 hours. The fruits release juice with the help of the sugar. This is then boiled down without the fruits. And then poured back over the fruits to let them steep covered for another 24 hours. The next day, the procedure is repeated. On the third day, the fruits are then gently cooked together with the syrup. Only now is the mustard powder or mustard oil added, as it evaporates with heat.
