Mint Beyond the Julep: A Bold Herb for Savory Winter Cooking

Most people meet mint in a mojito or a chocolate chip ice cream, and there it stays. That is a shame. In the kitchens of the eastern Mediterranean, North Africa, and the Caucasus, mint is a savory herb first — dried and crumbled into lamb meatballs, stirred into yogurt with cucumber and garlic, scattered over a stew of peas and rice. It is bold, cooling, and slightly sweet, and it has an almost unmatched ability to cut through fat. In a season of braises and roasts, that is exactly what you want.

The trick is to treat mint like a spice as much as a garnish. Dried mint, in particular, behaves differently from fresh. It is softer, more tea-like, and it dissolves into hot dishes rather than sitting on top. Keep a jar of good dried spearmint or peppermint in the pantry next to the oregano. When you brown lamb shoulder for a long braise, add a tablespoon of dried mint with the onions. When you make a pot of white beans, finish with a handful of chopped fresh mint and a squeeze of lemon. The beans will taste like they cost more than they did.

Three Pairings Worth Knowing

First, mint and lamb. This is the classic, and it earns its reputation. A leg of lamb rubbed with dried mint, garlic, olive oil, and salt, roasted until pink, needs nothing else but a bowl of yogurt with more mint stirred in. Second, mint and peas. Frozen peas, cooked briefly with butter, a little chopped shallot, and a generous pinch of dried mint, are a revelation — sweet, green, and faintly perfumed. Third, mint and citrus. A salad of orange segments, thinly sliced red onion, and torn mint leaves, dressed with olive oil and a little salt, is a winter staple when citrus is at its best.

Growing and Keeping Your Own

Mint is famously aggressive in a garden, which is why it belongs in a pot. A single plant on a sunny windowsill will give you more than you can use from spring through fall, and it will come back year after year if you keep it watered. Harvest the top few inches regularly to keep it bushy. To dry it, bundle the stems, hang them in a cool dark place, and crumble the leaves into a jar once they're brittle. Home-dried mint is brighter than anything from a shelf, and it will carry you through the months when the windowsill is bare.

Use it more than you think you should. A bold herb earns its place by being bold, and mint, used with confidence, can change the whole register of a winter meal — from heavy to bright, from predictable to something you'd happily cook again next week.