Chef Klaus
Apfelmus
The apple-harvest preserve of the German kitchen, cooked low until the fruit collapses, then kept smooth, tart, and ready for potato pancakes or warm Mehlspeisen.
Culinary Explorer
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Süßer Senf (Bayerischer Weißwurstsenf)
Created by
The Munich mustard for Weißwurst: coarse brown seed, vinegar, sugar, and apple, left overnight so the bite settles into a round, mild spoonful.
Appetizers & Snacks
German
Make Ahead
Quick Meal
15 min
Active Time
5 min cook•12 hr 20 min total
Yield1 jar, about 250ml
Süßer Senf belongs to Bavaria first, and to the Weißwurst table most of all. Morning, pretzel, pale sausage, a small bowl of mustard. That doesn't make it a costume. Das ist kein Bierzelt. It's a practical sauce: sharp seed rounded with sugar so it sits beside mild veal sausage instead of bullying it.
German mustard splits hard by region. Düsseldorf and the Rhineland want it sharp, hot, and clean. Bavaria goes sweet and coarse, with brown mustard seed left visible under the spoon. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders. A single German mustard would be a lie told by a supermarket shelf.
The deciding technique is simple: grind the soaked seed only after it has taken up the vinegar and water, then let the finished mustard rest overnight. Dry seed ground too fine turns bitter and harsh; soaked seed breaks coarse, releases its heat more slowly, and mellows while the sugar and apple pull it round. Nicht aus dem Glas. This is ten minutes of work and one night's patience.
Watch the texture. You want a spoonable mustard with little cracked seeds still in it, not a yellow paste. Taste for sweet, sour, salt, then leave it alone. Das braucht seine Zeit, even when the work is quick.
Munich mustard maker Johann Conrad Develey is usually credited with creating Bavarian sweet mustard in 1854, using coarse mustard seed and caramelised sugar to make a milder, sweeter sauce than the sharper French and Rhenish styles. Weißwurst is traditionally dated to 1857 in Munich, so the famous pairing belongs to the mid-19th-century city, not to an ancient Alpine farmhouse. The regional split remains clear: Düsseldorf mustard stays hot and sharp, while Bavarian Weißwurstsenf is sweet, brown, coarse, and gentle.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
brown mustard seeds
Quantity
80g
yellow mustard seeds
Quantity
20g
apple cider vinegar
Quantity
120ml
water
Quantity
60ml
brown sugar
Quantity
60g
apple
Quantity
30g
finely grated
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon
ground cloves
Quantity
1 pinch
ground allspice
Quantity
1 pinch
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| brown mustard seeds | 80g |
| yellow mustard seeds | 20g |
| apple cider vinegar | 120ml |
| water | 60ml |
| brown sugar | 60g |
| applefinely grated | 30g |
| fine sea salt | 1 teaspoon |
| ground cloves | 1 pinch |
| ground allspice | 1 pinch |
Equipment Needed
- •Small bowl with lid
- •Small saucepan
- •Food processor, spice grinder, or mortar and pestle
- •Clean 250ml jar
Instructions
- 1
Soak the seed
Put the brown and yellow mustard seeds in a small bowl with the vinegar and water, then cover and leave them at room temperature for at least 8 hours. The seed has to swell before grinding; dry seed breaks hot and dusty, while soaked seed cracks cleanly and gives you the coarse Bavarian texture.
- 2
Warm the sweetener
Put the brown sugar, grated apple, salt, cloves, and allspice in a small pan and warm gently for 3 to 5 minutes, just until the sugar dissolves and the apple softens. Keep it low, because scorched sugar makes the mustard bitter before the seed has even had its say.
- 3
Grind it coarse
Scrape the soaked mustard seed and all its liquid into a food processor or mortar, add the warm apple-sugar mixture, and grind until spoonable but still speckled with cracked seed. Stop before it becomes smooth. Weißwurstsenf should have body under the spoon, not the flat texture of a tube mustard.
- 4
Rest and adjust
Pack the mustard into a clean jar, cover it, and refrigerate overnight before judging it. Freshly ground mustard tastes louder than it will tomorrow; the rest lets the vinegar, sugar, and apple settle the heat. Taste after resting, then adjust with a few drops of vinegar for lift or a pinch of salt if it tastes dull. Würzen, Fett, Salz zum Schluss.
- 5
Serve it properly
Serve cold or cool, in a small dish, with Weißwurst, pretzels, Leberkäse, cold roast pork, or a Brotzeit board. Use a clean spoon every time, because this is a fresh mustard with apple in it and it keeps best when the jar stays clean.
Chef Tips
- •Use mostly brown mustard seed. Yellow seed alone gives you a pale, soft mustard without the deeper bite that makes Bavarian sweet mustard taste like itself.
- •Grate the apple fine. It should melt into the mustard and round the vinegar, not sit there as fruit salad. Weggeworfen wird nichts, the little end of an eating apple is enough.
- •Don't grind it smooth. The coarse seed is the style and the pleasure; a paste belongs to a different mustard.
- •Let it rest overnight before serving. Fresh mustard is sharp and jumpy, then it settles. Judge it tomorrow, not from the processor bowl.
Advance Preparation
- •Soak the mustard seeds the night before and grind the next morning; the work is short, but the seed needs time to drink in the vinegar.
- •The finished mustard keeps refrigerated for about 2 weeks in a clean jar. The flavour is best from the second day onward.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 17g)
Calories
50 calories
Total Fat
2 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
2 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
140 mg
Total Carbohydrates
6 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
4 g
Protein
2 g
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