Almost 16 years ago, Wisconsin attorney Barry Levenson left the practice of law to follow his passion – you're probably not going to believe this – for mustard.

Now the proprietor and curator of the Mount Horeb Mustard Museum, and an entertaining speaker on the subject of his favorite condiment, he will regale members of the Winnebago County Bar Association during a luncheon Wednesday, March 28, at Giovanni's Restaurant in Rockford.

It all began in October 1986, after Levenson's beloved Boston Red Sox lost the World Series to the New York Mets. Feeling depressed, he wandered through the aisles of an all-night supermarket.

Passing the mustard section, he says he heard a deep voice tell him: “If you collect us, they will come.” He bought dozens of jars of different brands that night and began to amass the world's largest collection.

Levenson was an assistant Wisconsin attorney general until 1991, when he became a full-time mustard connoisseur. The Mustard Museum opened April 6, 1992, and his Winnebago County Bar appearance will mark a 15th anniversary.

As the collection grew, the museum moved to larger space across Main Street in Mount Horeb. It now contains more than 4,400 jars and tubes of mustard from all 50 states and several countries.

It also sells hundreds of kinds of memorabilia, including pennants and caps of “Poupon U,” America's College of Mustard. The monthly newsletter is “The Proper Mustard: Yellow Journalism at its Best.”

For more information, such as details of National Mustard Day on Saturday, Aug. 4, access www.Mustard Museum.com. For reservations to the March 28 lunch in Rockford, call (815) 964-4992.