Mint

Mentha spicata · Herb

4 varieties40 pairings

Spearmint (Mentha spicata) is the sweet, cooling garden mint — bright, grassy and gently sweet rather than icy, with a clean aroma carried by carvone rather than the menthol of peppermint. It is the mint of tabbouleh, mint tea, mojitos, lamb sauce and chewing gum, used fresh as a finishing herb and dried as a pantry staple.

Picking a good onedrag

Just cut, standing stiffLimp, yellowing, slimy

Shop freshThe all-rounder: salads, sauces, yoghurt, drinks.Everyday best

Leaf colourGreen, one or two pale lower leaves

The bunchSoftening, leaves starting to cup

Cut stemCut end drying brown, stem still stiff

Smell when bruisedScent comes when a leaf is rubbed

What to look for, from just cut, standing stiff to limp, yellowing, slimy.

Keeping ittap a band

A domestic fridge holds it about 6× longer than the counter.

Humidity

95-100%

Near-saturated, 95-100%: loosely bagged with a damp cloth, or the stems stood in water. Bare in dry fridge air a bunch goes limp within a day.

Airflow

Vented bag, not sealed

Perforated bag, never sealed tight: shut in wet air the cut ends turn slimy and bacterial rot climbs the stems from there.

Yellows and drops its leaves

It gives off almost none itself but is highly sensitive: ethylene from apples and bananas yellows the leaves and drops them off the stem.

Preparing