Cheap Dijon Mustard

Many of us love real Dijon mustard, as opposed to the emergency vehicle yellow stuff commonly available.  But....it's expensive (~$4 for a dinky bottle) for the domestic Grey Poupon and more for the real stuff from France.  You'd use it freely for all sorts of things besides hotdogs and sandwiches (like salad dressings, sauce roux,  meat salads, etc), were it only cheaper.  And it can be.  Good Dijon mustard is cheaply available....in pails and jugs for the commercial trade ...the only problem being you'll have to store it for a while or make your friends happy by giving them gift bottles of the excess that you can't use in a reasonable ammount of time. 
Note that:



Maile brand mustard is available in plastic gallon (9 pounds, 4 kilos) jugs, both regular and coarse seeded, for about $15 plus shipping...It is made in Canada (which actually grows most of the world's mustard seed...which is shipped to France and then the prepared stuff is shipped back!) to the French recipe and is indistinguishable from the stuff in the little jars from France.  However, there are amazing special varieties of Maile mustard!.  I find the basic Maile mustard a bit harsh or sharp (try a little jar of it first) and aactually prefer...

Beaufor brand mustard is more nuanced.  It is available 5 kilo pails for about $22 (both regular and coarse seeded, which is called Ancienne) and is imported from France.

Or you may wish to go hunting for other brands...the Google advanced search string I used to find the Beaufor was:
beaufor (mustard|moutarde) (jug|tin| kg| pound|lb|gallon|pail)
The vertical bar (vinculum) ORs anything within the parentheses...so this search for Beaufor (mustard OR moutarde) AND (jug OR tin OR..)  Beaufor used to come in big cans the size V8 juice comes in. 

How and where I bought it

The problem with getting this mustard is that it may only be sold in this size by restaruant supply operations that aren't really set up for retail sales.  Most all will take credit cards, but the sticking points are whether they will ship UPS (instead of motor freight, you don't want that) and if and how they will handle this (what is to them a) small sale.  But as of 4/202o, this has gotten easier, see below

Maile

Now (4/2020) available from FoodServiceDirect.com, I gallon (9.05 pounds) for $27.78, apparently free shipping
https://www.foodservicedirect.com/single-maille-smooth-dijon-mustard-jar-9-05-pound-1-each-23006903.html

I got Maile Mustard from Dairyland/Chef's Warehouse/Bel Canto Foods of the Bronx back in 2009 and paid $34.13 for two 9 pound, 4 kilo,  gallon plastic jugs with delivery by UPS (distance was about 100 miles...the UPS charge will vary according to distance) included in that price. 
Here is my contact info for Valerie Widdi, her extension was then was 4 rather than 20104:
Valerie Widdi
Belcanto foods & Chefswarehouse
Sales Executive
T: 718 497-3888 ext 20104
F: 607-204-0345
"Valerie Widdi" <VWiddi@chefswarehouse.com>
At that time, they needed you to fill out an account form and then fax it to them.  The application was no big deal, they just needed it to enter me in their system. I had hand written alternate phone number  of (718) 842-8700

I don't know if Valerie is still there but it should get you started.

I have been unable to locate, as I did then, an online catalog with price information, but there *are* these two webpages of theirs for respectively smooth and grainy (country style) Maile dijon mustard:
https://www.dairylandusa.com/Catalog/Detail.aspx?prd_id=GM310M
https://www.dairylandusa.com/Catalog/Detail.aspx?prd_id=GM313M
These show a tin can, but it came in the plastic jug shown in the picture at the top of the page.  At that time they were identically priced and came not in tins, but in plastic jugs, product of Canada, but to the Maile recipe, very satisfactory, tasting to me the same as what's in the little jars. These jugs were $11.17@....and the smooth mustard item number was then listed as GM310N (not M) on my invoice.  I take about 6 months or more to go through the gallon and keep it (to my wife's annoyance) in the bottom of the fridge.  It stored just fine, though it did lose a bit of its sharpness over that time.  The unopened room temperature shelf-life based on the dated label seems to be about a year or year and a half.

Maile mustard is a bit sharper (makes my eyes water, sneeze etc) when fresh than I prefer. 

The gallon tub label says 9.05 lb, Product of Canada, MFG for MAILLE, 2100 DIJON, FRANCE,Distributed in the US by White Toque, Inc. Secaucus, NJ, 1-800-237-6936, www.us.maille.com. Maille appears to be a Unilever brand.
The prime distributor appears to be White Toque...which only lists Clovis mustard at its website



Beaufor

Now (4/2020) available from Boananza, 5 kilogram tub $38. shipping included
https://www.bonanza.com/listings/Beaufor-French-Dijon-Mustard-11-25-Lb-Pail/677097517

I previously got Beaufor Dijon from 1800gourmet.com, but they went out of business in early 2007.  It wasn't as sharp, was more nuanced, and I liked it better.
Beaufor is one of three brand fielded by Vinagre: Beaufor, Percheron and Clovis.  Here is their website (in French or English)
https://www.vinaigre.com/en/

Note that there is a small UK icon in the upper right for English web pages, and there is a fascinating page how they make mustard.
https://www.vinaigre.com/-Production,30-
It appears that the world's mustard in pretty much grown in Canada....

Beaufor has some wicked specialty mustards...Honey, Grape Must, Tarragon, and more...only available in the small jars.
https://www.vinaigre.com/-Mustards-

This time when I went hunting mustard, I was determined to get Beaufor and I found it (among other places) at Accardi in Massachusetts ,781-391-2400, XT 154 or 120,  where I didn't have to fill out any forms, just gave them my credit cards info and they shipped it UPS.  As of 12/2011, they charged $21 per 2.2lb (1kg) pail, plus $16 shipping from MA to NY.  Item code for the regular smooth was DMD, For the whole grain Ancienne, DMW. FWIW, they packed it pretty well with peanuts and bubblewrap, but the box was jostled or thumped and the seal broke on the pails (I got a pail each of regular and coarse seeded).  They leaked a little bit, but they hadn't gone bad in the day it took them to get from MA to upstate NY; I immediately opened and decanted the pail into smaller containers
https://www.accardifoods.com

Baldor, also in the Bronx, carries both lovis and Maile mustardsdunno what price or whether they will ship other than by frieght
Maile Dijon:  https://www.baldorfood.com/product/specialtygrocery/must1i-dijon-mustard
Beaufor Dijon:  https://www.baldorfood.com/product/specialtygrocery/must1a-beaufor-dijon-mustard

A great mustard and horseradish recipe for your delectation

...I use wasabi as I find commercial hosreradish a bit weak...and if you're a wasabi freak, I highly recommend Blue Diamond's Soy Sauce and Wasabi Roasted Almond, which Walgreen's occasionally has in buy one get one free...

A mustard taste test

Another specialty Mustard source