WoW! This is a great thread. Before I just loved to smell mint plants now I am going to try all these recipes. :-D
it will be not bad to make mint candy by yourself , cook the sugar water with some spoons of honey first , when it get thin , put the dry mint leaves
I find it works well in thai food, malaysian food and middle eastern food. Anywhere there is a sweet or tangy flavour aand you want a cooling contrast. In malaysian, try it with satay, pineapple etc. Also if you're making a salad with a lot of leafys, i chop mint through often, in addition to many other herbs
"Peppermint" is not the same as "mint" Sorry folks, the original question was about peppermint, not mint. They have very different tastes. For instance peppermint would be horrible in a mojito (think peppermint schnapps mixed with lime). Mint has a lot of uses, but peppermint? I'd still like to hear an answer as I inherited a lot of it from the last homeowner.
Peppermint has long been used as a digestive aid whether it is in a candy form or tea made from the crushed leaves. The fragrance of Peppermint does enhance memory and alertness. Peppermint can be used in candy, cake frosting, drinks, ice cream, salads, toothpaste, chewing gun. I use it to add fragrance and color to homemade soap. The Mojito recipes I have seen all call for using either Spearmint or Mentha x villosa. Mint Jelly recipes sometimes will specify Peppermint or Spearmint...but often the word mint is used as a generic name for all the Mint species. Mentha (mint) is the Genus of many strongly fragrant and flavorful plants but typically a plant sold under the name of Mint (with no species or flavorful common name) is Spearmint. Also, recipes that call for Mint leaves usually refer to Spearmint
I was just thinking that my Mint was Peppermint, but maybe it's just plain Mint? How does one know the difference? Whichever it is, it certainly is prolific. We use it in Tabouleh (Spelled many ways). I use it for tea but not often. The aroma is so nice and the blossoms are so aromatic.