Meaux, the other mustard region

Meaux is situated 60km west of Paris. One of the administrative centres of the Seine-et-Marne department (77), it has a population of over 50 000 people (the inhabitants are known as “Meldois”).

HISTORY

The history of Meaux has been subject to the whims of the twists and turns of the Marne, river on the banks of which the town is built.
In ancient times, the Ourcq canal and the Marne river formed a vast circle at the north of the town, which is where a Gallic tribe lived. They were known the “Meldis”, and gave their name to the town.

From the fourth century onwards, the town became a cathedral town, and later the capital of the Brie region.

The first links between religious orders and mustard date back to Charlemagne’s time. This king asked the monks to cultivate mustard in cathedral towns such as Meaux. He also protected the windmills which belonged to the monks, as well as the stone quarries, hence some struggles between different ecclesiastic groups (in particular the priory of Reuil, which held the millstone quarries in the area, and whose competitors were the abbess of St-Benoît [Benedictine], or the nuns of La Ferté-sous-Jouarre with the Chanoines du Chapitre [Canons]).

In the eighteenth century, several mustard mills were to be found, some of the manufacturers owned their own mill and others had become specialised in the flour trade, and sold their flower to craftsmen who made mustards destined partly for human consumption, and partly for medical and pharmaceutical use.

Mustard was consumed in great quantities, as it overpowered the taste of foods, which were not always as fresh as they could be.

As early as 1771, there were mustard makers in Meaux, who had taken over from the Chanoines, at a scale which was rather industrial for that time.

Alongside his mustard company, J.B. Pommery exploited a millstone quarry. The secret of Meaux Mustard had been passed on to him by the Chanoines. In 1890, the Pommery family were the only mustard makers left.

In 1925, the manufacture left the family to go into a modern production era.
Today, Pommery’s Meaux Mustard has kept the same recipe as in the past, its ingredients are carefully selected for their different qualities.
This gives the product a quality that many people have tried to copy.

The quality of the stoneware used, the most natural products, but also of its natural non-compressed cork, allow its conservation and help it to cross the planet in all directions.