Peppermint, Spearmint And Lemon Verbena.

Or even “menta piperita, hierbabuena y hierba luisa”. Three of my favourite herbs, along with basil (albahaca), sage (salvia), lavender (lavanda) oregano (orégano), dill (eneldo), thyme (tomillo), rosemary (romero) and parsley (perejil)!! And I’m bound to be forgetting a couple more too.

With all the rain we’ve had this year our herbs have grown to a ginormous size. I know that herbs from the mint family can run wild if you let them but I have never seen anything quite like this year’s spearmint. The leaves are huge!! Thankfully we have them in a separate herb garden, if they were in the “huerta” I dread to think. Visions of it suffocating all the veg and strangling the fruit trees come to mind. But maybe that’s a bit farfetched!

When herbs are so abundant I like to dry them, that way I have them on hand throughout the year, both for cooking and infusions. Some I find don’t dry well, parsley and tarragon for example, losing most of their flavour so I don’t bother to dry these and only use them fresh straight from the plant. Mind you, the tarragon I’ve recently planted doesn’t seem to have much taste when fresh either, I think they might have sold me a dud. It looks nice though. Others like oregano and sage dry very well, their flavours alter slightly when dried but in a good way and are perfect for all sorts of different recipes. If using dried I prefer to cook them in the dish I’m preparing, preferably adding them 10 to 15 minutes before the dish is finished.

If fresh herbs are being used I add them at the end of cooking time or use them raw tossed into salads and whizzed up in dips (basil and spearmint are delicious like this in my opinion), this way they keep their flavours and add a freshness to the dish in hand.

But more on other herbs in future posts. Let’s get back to today’s three protagonists. Spearmint and peppermint are both from the mint family (pretty obvious really), they need the same conditions to grow and they do this wonderfully if allowed. As I said previously, they can take over your herb garden, some people prefer to plant them in pots for this reason.

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The main difference between the two plants is the menthol content, peppermint has around 40% while spearmint a measly 0.5% and thus are used in different ways. Spearmint has a much sweeter flavour, it’s the mint of choice for mojitos and the one I use in mint lemonade. Mint sauce, the British accompaniment for roast lamb is made from spearmint, also the Moroccan green tea beverage that they add about a pound of sugar to. I love it though and whenever we go to Granada, end up drinking gallons of the stuff, there are hundreds of Moroccan tea shops there. Peppermint is the flavour in most mint sweets (think humbugs, polos and mint imperials), also mint chocolate and mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Lemon Verbena is a wonderful herb, it smells absolutely divine, just like lemon sherbet. Every time I walk by the plant I have to run my hand along it’s stems, cup my hand over my nose then inhale the glorious aroma, although I often do this with most of the herbs in our garden. It gives a sense of well-being and awakens the mind (don’t worry, I’m not going to get too hippy-dippy on you!)

The three herbs have a vast array of properties, all are good for digestive complaints. Peppermint tea really helps me when I get my IBS pains, it seems to ease the spasms in the bowel and calms the whole digestive tract. They might all be beneficial for women’s problems too, from helping regulate hormones to relieving menstrual cramps. I make a very calming, refreshing, cool drink from lemon verbena, fennel (also good for bloating, and digestive issues), lavender cotton (“santolina” in Spanish, more on this herb in a future post) and occasionally spearmint. It’s delicious, there is no need for sweeteners but a squeeze of lemon juice compliments the flavours very well. In the summer I make a litre every couple of days and drink this when I fancy something other than water, I really think it helps many an ailment!

To dry herbs I either hang them or place them on cardboard or newspaper. Recently I dried the two different mints and the lemon verbena on newspaper for approximately eight to ten days. They might have been dry before then but I’d forgotten about them. The peppermint and spearmint I crushed a bit in a small sort of food processor, the smell they release is glorious. The lemon verbena I leave whole (not sure why, just “manías” as they say in Spanish, which more or less means silly little ways. I have a few of them!)

I keep them in jars in my “tea cupboard” and use them when needed. They really make lovely infusions. I find the peppermint and lemon verbena keep very well, the spearmint might lose some of it’s flavour once dried though, at least that’s what I think. I’d previously dried about half a jar full and it seems to have lost some of it’s minty aroma. It could be due to the lower menthol content. This is the first year I’ve dried spearmint though so time will tell. I’ll keep you informed.

Well, that’s about it for today. We’re having three days holiday in a town close to Castellón (more on that in my next post) so don’t want to be spending too much time glaring at my computer, Pep wouldn’t be too amused. Thanks for popping by. You should know by now that if you have any suggestions or questions you shouldn’t hesitate to contact us, but I’ll remind you just in case! We’d love to hear from you. Take care. See you soon. Love Georgie and Pep xxx