The Refreshment for the Summer - Is Mint always Peppermint?
Herbs and spices provide our daily food and drink that certain something. For the summer, the mystic mint captivates the world's kitchens with its menthol-like scent. The cool taste refreshes us in not only toothpaste, mouthwash and chewing gum. Mint tea helps with stomachaches and in sparkling water, added mint is an essence of freshness.
The mint is based on a mythical mystical meaning. The plant genus Mentha was originally named after the Greek nymph Minthe. According to legend, the love-loving underworld god Hades followed the beautiful Minthe and finally made her his beloved women. However, Hades was already given to someone else. He allowed his married Persephone to leave the underworld for visits to her mother Demeter. Persephone was very jealous of Minthe. Therefore, she turned the nymph out of revenge into a creeper, which was kicked with feet and was condemned to live in the shadow. Hades softened the fate of Minthe by giving her a wonderful scent.
The question arises whether mint is equivalent to peppermint. The Mentha genus contains of about 30 different genera, so there are many differences. The peppermint is a natural hybrid that originated from a random cross between water mint and green mint.
Since all mint types contain essential oils, the menthol creates a fresh feeling on the skin or in the mouth. There are differences in taste. The green mint contains, for example, less menthol than the peppermint. The orange mint smells of oranges, the apple-mint of apples. There are even flavours like pineapple, chocolate or strawberry.
New tastes are been added repeatedly. Especially for the mix of exciting, new cocktails, Moroccan, banana or mojito connoisseurs are cultured. For the food preparation we clearly recommend to not preserve the mint with the dish, but rather to add the mint freshly hacked.
However, you should be careful with all the many variations the mint offers. If one takes too much minz drinks, the healing effect of the plant can also turn to the contrary. AT around four cups, the menthol can affected gastric mucous membranes additionally. The mint is also unsuitable for infants, toddlers and pregnant women because of their menthol substance.
