President Reagan's Homemade Cranberry Sauce Included An Unexpected Spice

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Ever wondered what a cranberry sauce fit for a president might actually taste like? It's unlikely but, now that the question's in your head, here's the answer: It's sweet, with a tinge of spiciness from dry mustard. According to Cookin with Congress, this was Ronald Reagan's cranberry sauce recipe which likely graced the White House holiday spreads during his term from 1981 to 1989. 

While you might be the first to ask about cranberry sauce recipes fit for the White House, you wouldn't be the first to wonder what dry mustard is doing in Reagan's version. His recipe calls for orange juice concentrate diluted with water and sugar, which is then spiked it with a ½ teaspoon of dry mustard for a peppery warmth that balances the sweetness of the sauce. The cranberries are cooked in this mixture until they collapse into a jewel-toned preserve.

Now, how does it taste? One can only assume it's good if Nancy Reagan approved of it. It'd be hypocritical to say dry mustard is the oddest thing ever added to cranberry sauce — after all, one of Tasting Table's five Thanksgiving cranberry sauce recipes is an extra-smoky version with ground cumin and chipotle in adobo mixed in. 

The Reagans clearly had a thing for dry mustard — apparently, one of the 40th president's favorite mac and cheese recipes also came with a dash of the stuff. Despite there being really no source mentioning how exactly the White House kitchen staff sourced the spice at the time, odds are good that it didn't come out of a pre-packaged bottle bought from a grocery store's shelf. A store-bought dry mustard like the Amazon Grocery ground mustard may suit your needs, but freshly ground seems a lot more "presidential" — plus, if you're going to give this homemade cranberry sauce recipe a shot, it's only fair that the dry mustard be homemade as well.

Better strength aside, you can also adjust the spice's intensity to your liking by choosing the type of mustard seed you'll be grinding. Strongest and most pungent are brown mustard seeds — so if a very present kick of spice under the fruity sweetness sounds like your style, that's the way to go. But if you either just want to experiment, or you want the dry mustard to be a very light seasoning for your sauce, milder yellow mustard seeds should do the job. Simply pulverize your choice of mustard seed in a spice grinder or a mortar and pestle, and you'll have fragrant spice ready to elevate your cranberry sauce for the holiday table.