Refreshing Mint
Summer is a great time to think mint. Not only is the herb running rampant in gardens everywhere, but its fresh, cooling flavor perfectly complements summer fare. I'm not only talking about lemonade and iced tea, though a sprig of mint is always welcome in my glass. I'm talking about chilled fresh pea soup garnished with a chiffonade of mint, fruit salads and cold grain salads like tabbouleh punctuated with chopped mint leaves, and grilled vegetables flavored with a minty marinade.
Although there are hundreds of types of mint, spearmint and peppermint are the most popular varieties for cooking and baking. At the supermarket, you'll find spearmint both fresh and dried. Peppermint is usually only available as an extract, which is a mixture of the plant's concentrated natural oils and alcohol. Peppermint and spearmint are also sold as pure oils, which are much more potent than extracts and should be handled accordingly.
Peppermint (Mentha piperita) has a more pronounced flavor and is used mostly in baking and confec tionery. The hallmark of peppermint is the cooling sensation you get in your mouth as you inhale. This is the mint with enough spunk to stand up tochocolate, the one used, of course, to flavor peppermint candy. Though peppermint is mostly used in extract form, I often add chopped leaves to fudge.
Spearmint (Mentha spicata) is what you'll find fresh in your supermarket's produce section and dried in the spice department. Fresh and minty tasting, but with no cooling sensation, milder spearmint is more commonly used in savory dishes.
MINT FLAVORS A WIDE RANGE OF FOODS
On English tables, spearmint usually in the form of mint jelly-traditionally accompanies lamb. A favorite drink in Morocco is a sweet tea made by steeping green tea, sugar, and spearmint. In India, cucumber raita (a yogurt dip served to counter hot foods) isn't complete without a healthy dose of mint. In Southeast Asia, mint is usu ally added to a cooked dish just as it's about to be served, sometimes along with cilantro and basil. Mint has an affinity for these aromatic herbs, as well as for flavorings such as parsley, cardamom, lemongrass, and chiles.
BUY MINT FRESH AND HAN DLE IT GENTLY
I almost always use fresh mint, which is what most recipes call for, although dried is traditionally favored in some long- cooked Middle Eastern dishes. When buying fresh mint, look for unblemished, bright green leaves with a fresh, minty fragrance. Like most herbs, fresh mint is best used right away. If you have a large bunch, put the stems in a glass of water and cover the leaves with a plastic bag. Refrigerate and change the water every couple of days; your mint will stay fresh and fragrant for as long as a week.
Chop mint with your sharpest knife. Most recipes call for chopped mint leaves, though sometimes whole leaves or a pretty chiffonade are wanted. Like many herbs, mint bruises easily, and when bruised, it loses its volatile, flavorful oils. To keep bruising to a minimum, use a sharp, dry knife for chopping and slicing. Chop mint just before using it; its volatile oils evaporate quickly. These oils also fade when heated, which is why fresh mint is often added toward the end of cooking.
EXPERIMENT WITH MINT
- Flavor iced tea with sprigs of fresh mint, tarragon, and basil. Toss steamed new potatoes, fresh peas, or sliced carrots with butter and chopped mint
- Give pesto a fresh twist by using equal amounts of mint and basil. Marinate eggplant and zucchini in olive oil, red-wine vinegar, and chopped fresh mint before grilling.
- Add fresh mint to citrus or melon salsas. Tie sprigs of mint in a bouquet gami, along with thyme, parsley, and rosemary, to flavor braised lamb.
- Use mint extract as you would vanilla extract Flavor creme anglaise by steeping chopped mint in the simmering milk. Strain the milk before adding other ingredients.
Lynn Alley is the author of Lost Arts (Ten Speed Press, 1995) ,a cook's guide to making handmade
ingredients.
