Did you know there is no such thing as “mint”? I learned this only a few weeks ago when I went to the Regional Market (Farmer’s Market) to buy “mint” for a specific planter I have (on wheels, not near the ground so the roots can’t take…root). I have been making a wonderful salad that calls for a lot of mint for a few years now, and I have never been able to get enough mint from the supermarket to make the amount of chopped leaves the recipe calls for. And supermarket “mint” is hideously expensive. My solution? Grow my own. Except there is no such thing.
There is peppermint (attempting to take over my lawn since someone planted it without my permission), spearmint (also determined to rule my property, but at least that was my doing), strawberry mint, orange mint, chocolate mint, apple mint…so I asked the seller if he had plain old mint. That’s when I learned “mint” is like “squash.” Do you like squash? What kind? There’s zucchini, crookneck, butternut, acorn, hubbard, delicata, etc.
Mind. Blown.
I came home and started looking up the ingredients in mint tea. Most are a blend of peppermint and spearmint.
What kind of mint goes into a mint julep? Spearmint is recommended.
A mojito? Spearmint again (although one site recommends Cuban mint, which is not the same).
I also learned mint is an anti-inflammatory, which I love. I bought a mint-blend tea to see if that helps. If nothing else, I can drink it iced. (Along with the York Peppermint Patties I’ve started keeping in the freezer.)
I ended up buying strawberry mint. It sounded like it would be good in a fruit salad.
A few days later I made my first lentil salad of the season with more than enough mint (pepper and spear) from my own yard. And it was tasty and bright and cooling.
