Used commonly in toothpaste and chewing gum, peppermint is sometimes used to flavor ice cream or to stand up to chocolate in baked goods. Intensely peppery, peppermint is loaded with menthol, which creates a bracingly cool sensation in the mouth. Sticking to the more traditionally minty mints (think gum and juleps), Belsinger shares a few of her favorites. In a broad sense, the family that peppermint and spearmint belong to, Lamiaceae, includes many other culinary herbs-basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, and lavender. “I never drink a glass of sweet tea in the summertime without bruising a couple of mint leaves and rubbing them around the rim of my glass,” she says. Belsinger’s garden in Brookeville, Maryland, abounds with vegetables and herbs, but she finds herself especially drawn to mint for everything from baking to cocktail-making and tea-sipping. Mint varieties matter, says Susan Belsinger, an herbalist and author of the book The Culinary Herbal. Or mix orange mint into a batch of ice cream and you’ll wind up with something more reminiscent of Earl Grey tea.
Muddle peppermint in a julep, and guests will wonder why their lips tingle a little too much. Among the dozens-some estimates say hundreds-of mint cultivars and hybrids, a handful stand out for their refreshing flavor and widespread culinary use. Not only is mint known for spreading wildly in the garden, but the herb has firmly planted its flag in the cuisines of the world, too, whether it’s Lebanese tabbouleh, Moroccan tea, the jelly served alongside lamb in England, or, of course, a Southern Derby Day julep.
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