My husband and I went to a restaurant in Konstanz. It was nice but not particularly smart. When I asked for mustard with my steak the waitress brought me an old tube of Thomy mustard which was a bit embarrassing. Then the people on the table next to me started laughing at me as did my husband who told me that it was really unheard of to have mustard with steak in Germany. I was a bit upset. Still not sure what the big faux pas was. Can anyone enlighten me?
Don't worry Victoria, they are just peasants!! I always have mustard with my steak (Dijon, preferably) ... not to mention with my lamb chops, sausages, ......
Folk in Germany and Switzerland really have no idea at all what real mustard is. They offer Thomy industrial mayo type substance with a slight mustard essence to it and then laugh at British food traditions.
I find Swiss steak tasteless because, I think, the steak eats too much good green grass when it's running around on four legs so that, without good English Colemans mustard, made from powder, it's uneatable
To me, rich sauces such as peppercorn, whisky, balsamic vinegar ... or whatever, are superfluous to a good, rare steak. Whereas a dab of good mustard only enhances it.
When I met my (Swiss) husband, he would put mayonnaise and/or mustard on just about anything and everything. But he has since converted to BBQ sauce... even on hot dogs!
I myself prefer to slather my steak with this funny little substance called "A1" steak sauce. I have no idea what's in it (and I'm not so sure I want to know), but I likey...
Anyways, I remember my (tyrant) step-father once yelled at me for using a sauce on my steak. He seemed to think that it defeated the purpose of eating steak since it overwhelmed it. Hence, I *strongly* believe that anyone and everyone should be able to put whatever they choose on their mmmmeat and should no longer live in fear of the Steak Nazis!