Canadian food DYK: Prairie-grown mustard seeds are used around the globe

Who knew that our Canadian mustard seeds were such globetrotters?

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Canada is the world’s largest exporter of mustard seeds, with Saskatchewan growing about 75 per cent of the nation’s crops. Apparently, our climate provides ideal growing conditions for the spice. And we don’t grow just any seeds, we grow the fancy, high-end kind. Condiment makers like Maille use Canadian seeds for their famous Dijon mustard. In fact, they end up buying more than 5,000 tonnes of yield every year—enough for more than 1.9 billion small jars of mustard.

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Saskatchewan actually produces all three types of mustard (yellow, brown and black) exporting to places like the United States, Belgium, Japan, Germany, Netherlands, India, Thailand, Senegal, Venezuela, Switzerland, United Kingdom, South Korea and Australia. The prairie province even celebrates this crop with The Great Saskatchewan Mustard Festival each August, where local food talents gather to showcase their culinary-chops with mustard.