Little Smokies with Mustard Bacon Sauce

The origins of mustard are unknown, but it is a Northern Hemisphere plant, the seeds have been found in Stone Age settlements. Egyptians tossed the seeds onto their food, and sent King Tut to the great beyond with a good supply in his tomb. The Sumerians ground it into a paste. Wealthy Romans ground it and mixed it with wine at the table. Cultivated for thousands of years, mustard was the main spice known to Europeans before the advent of the Asian spice trade, Westerners had mustard long before pepper, which originated in India. Once trade routes were established, ancient people from India to Egypt to Rome chewed mustard seeds with their meat for seasoning.