Magnificently Mint
Mint can be something that happens when you are the least prepared for it. You might be outside in you garden and suddenly detect a sharp, green odor that you associate with candy or medicine, and you’ll suddenly realize that you have mint on your hands. Whether you choose to cultivate it or buy it at the store, you’ll find that the species of herbs that are denoted as mentha, which all share the common name of mint, are quite healthy and tasty when you can add them to your cooking.
While mint is so prevalent in some areas as to be considered a weed, you can still grow mint on your own. Just be careful where you put it, because you’ll find that under the right circumstances, these herbs can be quite aggressive and choke out other, more fragile plants. Mint plants do quite well in the shade and they prefer cool, moist spots, though some species do just fine in the sun. You’l find that a single plant, due to the fact that they are such speedy growers, will provide you with plenty of mint for your household.
Mint leaves can be fresh or dried, and they can be used in a variety of foods from different nationalities. Fresh mint provides you with the strongest taste; try a fresh leaf and you’ll find that there is a sweet, slightly cool aftertaste. Mint can be used to add a certain amount of savor to meat dishes, and in the Middle East mint is often used in conjunction with lamb dishes, a habit which spread to the United Kingdom, where mint sauce and mint jelly is often served with lab dishes.
You’ll find that mint is also quite popular when it comes to Asian cuisines. Mint is offered in whole leaf form as a side dish to many different soups and noodle dishes, and the leaves can be strewn on top of a good spicy soup. You’ll find that the mint leaves lend a crispness to soups that would otherwise be overly sweet, and they can similarly be used to add a bit of freshness to curries. The Vietnamese spring roll is another place where you can add mint and find that it brings out the sweetness of the pork or shrimp.
Mint is a great herb to have, whether you go out and collect it, grow it in a window box or simply buy it from the store, you’ll find that once you start using mint as a garnish, that you’ll see plenty of places that you can add it. Think seriously about the taste of mint and think about what foods can be accentuated by it!
