Episode 35: Macbeth's Medley & Eye of Newt- Mustard

botanical illustration of mustard

Hello, and welcome to the first official Rooted Episode of Spooky Season! It’s always that time of year in my heart, but now that the weather is finally starting to agree, I think it’s high time we dive into a series I have been stoked about bringing you for ages! To celebrate halloween, I’ve decided that each week we are going to dive in to one of the ingredients from the witches potion in macbeth to dissect truth from fiction and get the inside scoop on what the heck those ladies were really brewing up in that cauldron.

Starting with the first ingredient- eye of newt- not to ruin the charm of your childhood, but Eye of newt is NOT what it sounds like… much to the newts of old’s delight, witches weren’t running around plucking out their eyes. Instead, they were turning to an ingredient most of us still have in our kitchens and craft closets today- Mustard Seeds! 

Mustard seeds come from the mustard plant- or Sinapis! There are three main varieties of mustard- White, Brown, and Black. The most common of these is Sinapis alba, or white mustard, so that’s the one we will focus on today! 

Mustard is a part of the Brassicae family, with relatives like broccoli, brussel sprouts, and cabbage. 

It is native to europe and asia, but can now be found growing wildly pretty much everywhere - especially here in north america, where it is widely considered an invasive weed, and folks are strongly encouraged to pick and eat them before they continue their quest for total domination…luckily they are pretty tasty, so it’s not too hard to get people on board. 

You’ll know you’ve spotted a mustard plant because they are about 2-3 feet tall with fuzzy, branching stems that give way to pointy pinnate leaves, which means there are several leaves pointing out from a single stem- kind of like a fern! 

You’ll also see stocks of bright yellow flowers poking off of the stems from May well into september. Once they go to seed, they produce long pods filled to the brim with tiny rounded seeds that are white. Brown, or black depending on the exact variety of mustard. 

While it really isn;t too picky, mustard does prefer to grow in sunny places with decently rich soil. 

Now, I know what you’re thinking- all these plant facts are useful and all, but why the HECK was it called Eye of Newt?! Well, to answer your question, I have some bad news- the answer isn’t nearly as creative or earth shattering as you and I had hoped. In fact dear listeners, I am here to tell you that the reason mustard was sometimes referred to as Eye of Newt is just because the seeds are round and about the same shade of yellow as some newt eyes of the period where, and someone decided it would be a fun and quirky thing to start calling their mustard seeds…and everyone else kind of agreed, so they all just went with it until it ended up in macbeth…

But aside from that little oddity, Mustard has been used for thousands of years across many faiths and cultures to symbolize a variety of things. 

In the Jewish faith, and later in christianity, the mustard seed was used to symbolize how small the known universe is and how each one of us may seem insignificant, but can grow to have a larger impact on the world. 

In Buddhism, there is a story of a woman, Kisa Gotami, who is devastated by the death of her young son. Grief stricken and refusing to accept his death, Kisa brought her child door to door begging her neighbors to give her the medicine she needed to save her son’s life. After quite some time, one of her neighbors encourages her to go to the buddha. When she arrives, he instructs her to go to each house in her town and collect a handful of mustard seeds- one from every house that has not been touched by grief, so that he can make medicine to save her son. Easy enough, she thought, so she headed out on her quest to collect the seeds. However,as day turned to night, she hadn’t found a single house that had not experienced the loss of a loved one. While she returned to the Buddha empty handed, she had also accepted her son's passing and the grief she felt, and she decided to bury him in the forest, taking comfort in the fact that although she lost her son, she wasn’t alone in missing a loved one. 

In countries like India, Denmark, Italy, and Germany, mustard seeds are said to protect us from evil spirits which cause chaos or unhappiness in our lives. In denmark, it was common to sprinkle garlic seeds outside of your doors and windows to keep the malevolent energies at bay, while in germany Brides would sew mustard seeds into the hems of their wedding dresses to promote happiness and a bright future for their marriage 

Mustard seeds were also commonly used to symbolize hope and prosperity, as their seeds have been known to remain viable even in extremely harsh conditions, showing us that no matter how dire a situation may seem, there is always hope that we will spring back stronger. 

In potions and spell work, mustard typically would have been used as protection, and to ward off any attempted hexes or negative energy that may have been sent a witches way- so maybe the witches in Macbeth wanted to first protect themselves, then do their own bidding- after all, the rule of threes would dictate that any harm they wished onto others would come back to them, so it makes sense that they would want to mitigate their own risk as much as possible. 

Outside of symbolism and spiritualism, mustard has also played important roles in our food, medicine, and beyond

In medicine, mustard has long been used to help heal wounds quickly, much like Yarrow from last week’s episode! The leaves were traditionally ground into a paste and spread on the wound, or applied directly to protect the skin while it healed. 

While doing my research for this episode I couldn’t find a chemical answer as to why this worked, but I *DID*  find an interesting study that actually showed another folk remedy- using yellow mustard to heal burns- may actually do more harm than good, as mustard contains known skin irritants that can actually cause even more inflammation on the already very irritated skin- so just know that while mustard leaves can help your skin, squirting gray poupon directly onto your next oven burn is NOT suggested or endorsed by science.  

Speaking of culinary delights, by far the most popular way to use mustard is to eat it- something humans have been doing for centuries, with the first mustard factory popping up in dusseldorf germany sometime in the 1500’s, and pretty much everyone loving the stuff waaaaay before then. 

Having lived in Wisconsin for quite some time, I would be remiss if I went this whole episode without indulging in the delight that is the mustard museum in madison. For those of you who have also gotten to bask in it’s glory- congratulations…and for those of you who haven't, just know that this place is an absolute treasure of the midwest- it’s just niche enough to be weird, but not so niche that you feel like it’s completely unnecessary- it’s  right up there with the carrot museum from Episode 2 on my list of delightfully extra and wacky museums I never knew I needed. They have just about every kind of mustard you can imagine and then some, and any human I have ever interacted with from there has been so excited to share all of the zippy fun facts that only people obsessed with mustard could know and love. 

But mustard isn’t just useful as a condiment- the leaves can also be used to add a peppery flavor to just about any salad or side dish, and mustard has played a vital role in bringing you many of your favorite super-food favorites. 

In fact, did you know that most brassica family members actually originated from mustard?! That’s right- we owe kale, cauliflower, cabbage, and even broccoli to our pal mustard, which was cultivated and bred specifically over 2,500 years to bring us all of those veggies and then some- starting with an early version of collard greens, then working our way through kale to early broccoli, which is just mustard with really thick flower stems, and into cauliflower, which is really just broccoli with a ghostly flair if you ask me. 

Is your mind as blown as mine was, because I have known this fun fact for like a whole week and haven't been able to tell ANYONE and am also still not over the fact that all of these plants are just mustard with different hats on. It’s like squash all being the same plant all over again - and if you haven’t fallen down that rabbit hole yet don’t worry- I’ll take you there soon enough…

If that hasn't boggled your brain enough, we have to get into the recent controversy and drama surrounding mustard- that’s right- I am finally bringing you another dose of botanical outrage you didn’t even know you were missing….you’re welcome. 

Okay- to fully understand this I need you to really picture it with me- you’re a seed crafter in the heart of Minnesota- you have spent YEARS honing your skills and creating the craziest and most beautiful works of art out of seeds. You’re at the top of your game, and nothing can stop you from creating the most epic piece the state fair has ever seen….until- tragedy strikes- your sworn frenemy and president of the pta susan has made it her mission to take everything that brings you joy and the next thing on her list is that first place ribbon. 

As any good seed crafter knows (but most of us, myself included, dont) Mustard seeds are commonly used in making traditional seed art (jewlery, paintings, etc) because of their uniform size and shape, affordability, and how readily available they are. They also take dye quite well, making them a truly perfect addition to any seed- based art or craft. However, astute crafters or niche drama connoisseurs like me will know that the MN state fair mandates that all seeds used in these entries must be from MN grown crops- and mustard unfortunately isnt one of those- meaning that this year will be the last year mustard seeds are permitted in the art unless some sweet and courageous farmer takes it upon themselves to grow mustard for the crafters out there.. 

However, in true midwest fashion, the artists did what we do best- snarkily responded by putting their outrage into their seed art with pieces like “Mustard’s Last Hurrah” and “Who Snitched on Yellow Mustard” gracing the eyes of attendees and judges alike… let’s keep those mustard seed enthusiasts in our thoughts as they work to make art with corn and beans. 

Aside from seed art and salad dressing, mustard has plenty of other uses we have yet to fully explore, like biodiesel, promoting seed viability in other crops, and many many more. The next time you see mustard, I hope you give it a gentle kiss on the head, check for pesticides, and then give it a great big chomp if the coast is clear….and the next time you have a recipe that calls for some mustard seed, channel your inner macbeth witch and sprinkle some eye of newt into your soup- I promise it will be even tastier know that you know you’ve actually been making potions this whole time. 

Thanks so much for listening! I’ll be back next week with another deep dive into a potion ingredient you probably know better than you think! See you then!