Mustard Madness

Staff report

You’ve heard of March Madness in the basketball world, and now Mustard Madness is coming to the Valley by way of Uncle Jim’s Foods.

Uncle Jim’s Pepper Mustard rolled out its own nationwide tournament of mustard recipes this month. The goal is to see which recipe will win a taste test while supporting local small businesses and adding more than a little play to the usual March play-offs frenzy.

Recently featured in National Specialty Food magazine, Uncle Jim’s Pepper Mustard is a fat- and cholesterol-free combination of peppers, mustard and spices.

Founded in 2009 in the wake of rave reviews and high demand, the company has expanded its offerings to include three flavors, Uncle Jim’s Original, Habanero and Gluten-free Wasabi.

The regional rounds will begin when surprise boxes with all three flavors of pepper mustards and sealed envelopes with the competing recipes arrive. The regions include Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan and Indiana.

Competitors will head to their kitchens for games that involve two original recipes facing off against each other.

Recipes were submitted by Uncle Jim’s Pepper Mustard fans, called MustardHeads, and include at least one of the Pepper Mustard flavors in the ingredients. Teams of tasters from across the country will rate each recipe and determine the winners, who will move up the brackets from the Succulent 16 to the Edible Eight.

Local Ohio fans will join the competition and further eliminate losing recipes to round out the Final Foodie Four.

Celebrity chefs and Valley favorites Danny Catullo of Catullo’s Prime Meats and Frank Occhibove of Jimmy’s Italian Foods will prepare the Final Foodie Four recipes to name the winners in the last face-off before the crucial Culinary Championship.

To add to the support of small business in the Valley, Uncle Jim’s has chosen Champion Beach House in Trumbull County as the site of the Culinary Championship to take place April 5. Chef Wendell will prepare the last recipes standing for this final competition to complete the bracket for the Best MustardHead Recipe for 2014.

To keep up with the contest updates and learn more about Uncle Jim’s Pepper Mustards, visit UncleJimsStore.com or follow at UncleJimsStore#MustardMadness2014.