Mustard Day at New St. Isaac’s

On 17 October, 2014 the first Mustard Day was held in St. Petersburg. The New St. Isaac’s business center – also known as the former “Mustard House” – hosted a unique thematic celebration, dedicated to telling the history of mustard in Russia and explaining its links with our Petersburg building.

The administration of the New St. Isaac’s business center organized the celebration. General partner in the festivities was the leading mustard factory in Russia: Sarepta.

Mustard Day at New St. Isaac’s Mustard Day at New St. Isaac’s

Homemade snacks with Sarepta mustard, made by the head chef at “Partii ediy” awaited tenants and journalists as they arrived in the morning. An artist produced silhouette portraits of the guests from paper and everyone took home with them a personal card with their silhouette as a reminder of the celebration. A competition was held to pick the winners of mustard products: by giving a correct answer to a question on mustard, tenants could win prizes such as butter, mustard, and mustard powder.

Mustard Day at New St. Isaac’s Mustard Day at New St. Isaac’s

Interesting facts:

Our building formerly belonged to the Sarepta Society and was known as the “Mustard House” for an entire century. Two circumstances came together to bring this about: 1) the building was originally painted in a mustard color, and 2) the most famous product from Sarepta was its mustard.

The Sarepta Society’s “Mustard House” is mentioned in Leskov’s book “Zheleznaya Volya” (Iron Will).

Mustard is one of the world’s most ancient spices. It was used as a preservative, medicine, aphrodisiac, and as a washing agent. In Old Rus, people used to attach seven grains of mustard to their clothes to protect themselves against spells and curses.

Manufacturing of “Sarepta” (mustard) began in the Volga Region in 1765 and was carried out by German colonists invited to settle in Russia by Empress Ekaterina II. Up until the 1917 revolution, the “Sarepta” factory was the leading manufacturer of pickles and cooking oil in the country, as well as supplier to the Russian Imperial Court.

The Museum of Russian Mustard is located in Volgograd, at which there is a unique art model of the Petersburg home of the Sarepta Society.