Mint (mint)

“ And the old man, rousing from his dreams, blesses the vision which seems to rise up from the buried days of his youth, and with his gay nose nestling peacefully in the nosegay at the summit of his midday refresher, quaffs the icy drink, and with a long-drawn sigh of relief sinks back to dream again until the dinner bell sounds its hospitable summons. The mint julep still lives, but it is by no means fashionable. Somehow the idea has gotten abroad that the mint ought to be crushed and shaken up with water and whiskey in equal proportions. No man can fall in love with such a mixture. ”

“ It is a good plan to crush a few leaves of mint with the sugar in any cup where a bunch of mint would be used.
CLARET CUP.
Dissolve in a little water six lumps of loaf sugar; add to this one sliced orange, one sliced lime, the juice of one lemon, one liqueur glass of Medford rum, and one quart of St. Julien claret. Pour into your claret pitcher in which has been previously placed ice and the paring of one cucumber. Stir well and after a few moments remove the cucumber paring. Lastly, add one bottle of plain soda. Place a bunch of mint in the top of the pitcher, stems down, and serve. ”

“ I have walked once in summer by the side of a little marsh filled with mint and white hawthorn. The mint and white hawthorn have with them a vivid, rare, delicious perfume. It makes you want to grovel on the ground—it makes you think you might crawl in the dust all your days, and well for you. The perfume lingers with you afterward when years have passed. You may scream and kick and struggle and weep right lustily every day of your life, but in your moments of calmness sometimes there will come back to you the fragrance of a swamp filled with mint and white hawthorn. ”

“ This Sort of Mint is hard to be met with; but is lately cultivated in some Physick Gardens at Mitcham. It must be kept well weeded, and the top of the Bed, where it grows, must, when we cut it, be pricked up, a little, with a small Fork, or the Earth made fine with a Trowel; because the Runners, of this sort of Mint, shoot along upon the Surface of the Ground, and so at the Joints strike Root, which is contrary to other Sorts of Mint, which shoot their Runners under ground.
Damson-Wine to imitate Claret. ”

“ The Black Mint is more prolific in essential oil than the White, and hence more generally cultivated; but the oil of the latter is superior in delicacy of odour and commands a higher price. White Mint is said to be principally grown for drying in bundles, or as it is termed “bunching.” [Pg 485]
Peppermint is grown on a vastly larger scale in America, the localities where the cultivation is carried on being Southern Michigan, Western New York, and Ohio. ”

“ Mode.—Wash the mint, which should be young and fresh-gathered, free from grit; pick the leaves from the stalks, mince them very fine, and put them into a tureen; add the sugar and vinegar, and stir till the former is dissolved. This sauce is better by being made 2 or 3 hours before wanted for table, as the vinegar then becomes impregnated with the flavour of the mint. By many persons, the above proportion of sugar would not be considered sufficient; but as tastes vary, we have given the quantity which we have found to suit the general palate. ”

“ In England and America the most universal use of mint is for making mint sauce, the sauce par excellence with roast spring lamb. Nothing can be simpler than to mince the tender tops and leaves very, very finely, add to vinegar and sweeten to taste. Many people fancy they don't like roast lamb. ”

“ In some parts of the north of England it is customary for the inn-keepers to prepare mint-salad by bruising and grinding the vegetable in a large wooden bowl with a ball of lead of twelve or fourteen pounds weight. In this operation the mint is cut, and portions of the lead are ground off at every revolution of the ponderous instrument. In the same county, it is a common practice to have brewing-coppers constructed with the bottom of copper and the whole sides of lead. ”

“ The juice of mint fresh gathered, inhaled, is a remedy for affections of the nostrils. Beaten up and taken in vinegar, mint is a cure for cholera, and for internal fluxes of blood: applied externally, with polenta, it is remedial for the iliac passion and tension of the mamillæ. It is applied, too, as a liniment to the temples for head-ache; and it is taken internally, as an antidote for the stings of scolopendræ, sea-scorpions, and serpents. As a liniment it is applied also for defluxions of the eyes, and all eruptions of the head, as well as maladies of the rectum. ”

“ It is spearmint which is cultivated largely for table use in the making of mint sauce and mint julep. It is frequently cultivated in the vicinity of large cities to supply this demand. The leaves are wrinkled, serrate, short-stemmed or sessile ”

“ Open the tin of peas, strain off the liquor, and pour the peas on to the mint leaves. Now add a small saltspoonful of powdered sugar, half a saltspoonful of salt, and a small pat of butter as big as a five-shilling piece. Toss the peas for a minute or so lightly together, so that the butter is dissolved and the sugar and salt melted, and the fresh mint leaves brought to the surface. Now send the dish to table. The fresh mint leaves help to convey the idea that the peas are fresh. In everything we eat and drink imagination goes a long way. ”

“ They all laughed and contented themselves with looking at the outside of the severely plain meeting-house.
The tour over the Mint was filled with interest for all of them.
“This is the oldest Mint in the United States,” the guide explained to them. ”

“ Method.—Put all the above-mentioned ingredients, except the mint and ice, into a large glass jug, surround it with ice, and let it stand for 1 hour. Serve with small sprigs of mint floating on the top. ”

“ Then only appeared an old woman, who cleared the little table and brought in a copper ewer full of tea, a basket of figs and grapes and a plate of round cakes, samsa and mekrout, very rich and tempting, but quite beyond our capacity even to sample. We, however, made inroads on the tea, in spite of the fact that it was infused with fresh mint and terribly over-sweetened. Tea with mint is a very good drink in hot weather and, after the rich native food, is really an ideal beverage in African conditions, if only it is made with a normal quantity of sugar. ”

“ No one is obliged to argue in its behalf. It speaks for itself. Having intrinsic value and the added stamp of the national mint, it represents so many grains of precious metal and their equivalent in whatever money will buy. ”

“ It is limpid, yellowish, sometimes greenish; in time it becomes darker and more thickly-fluid. Its specific gravity varies between 0.890 and 0.965. It has a strong odor of curled mint and a pungent, somewhat cooling, slightly bitterish taste. It is soluble in all proportions in 90 per cent. alcohol. In commerce a distinction is made between German and American oil of curled mint, the latter generally containing oil of turpentine and oil of sassafras. Odor, taste, and the alcohol test suffice for the determination of the quality of the oil. ”

“ In precious metals, gold, silver, and their high grade alloys, a very small variation in the fineness makes a great difference in the value. Nothing is more essential than the accurate determination of the weight of the sample and of the metal obtained from it. It requires keen sight and most delicate adjustment in the hand which manipulates the Lilliputian scales of an Assayer’s table. The smallest weight used in the Mint is found in the Assay Room ”

“ Peppermint began to be cultivated in this vicinity as an agricultural product about the year 1816, but for several years the want of a proper knowledge of its culture, and the expense and difficulty of extracting the oil, prevented its extension beyond a few growers, who, however, realised fortunes out of the enterprise. Almost any kind of soil that will successfully rear wheat and maize is adapted to the growth of mint. ”

“ Crushed celery seed is liked by some in salad dressings. Spearmint is very refreshing. Delicate tender sassafras leaves may be used in fruit and nut meat salads.
Shredded fresh mint combines well with orange or grape fruit or with currant juice; tarragon with red raspberries and currants, and basil with peaches.
In closing the subject of flavorings, I quote the words of a lady visitor after sampling some of the dishes prepared by a class in cookery:
“Any one can give a taste to foods by adding condiments and flavorings, but to develop the flavors of the foods themselves is an art.” ”

“ Well wash them, rub or scrape off the skins, and put them and the mint into boiling water salted in the above proportion. Let them boil until tender; try them with a fork, and, when done, pour away the water. Allow them to stand by the side of the fire with the lid of the saucepan partially removed, and when they are thoroughly dry, put them in a hot vegetable dish, with a piece of butter the size of a walnut. If they are old, boil them in their jackets: drain, peel, and serve them as above, placing a piece of butter in the centre. Parsley chopped and mixed with the butter is an improvement. ”

“ Ordinarily the plant is propagated by division like mint, or more rarely by cuttings. Cultivation is the same as that of mint. Plantations generally last for four or five years, and even longer, when well managed and on favorable soil. In England it is more extensively cultivated than in America for drying and for its oil, of which latter a yield of 12 pounds to the acre is considered good. The leaves, green or dried, are used abroad to flavor puddings and other culinary preparations, but the taste and odor are usually not pleasant to American and English palates and noses. ”

“ The commercial product is usually pale green. Oil of crispmint, Oleum Menthæ crispæ, which in Europe is often sold to novices as oil of peppermint, has always a more or less yellow color and resembles the oil of peppermint in its properties, but it is less fine and cheaper. The same is true of the oil of spearmint, but this has a very characteristic odor and taste, distinctly different from peppermint.
As above stated, the oils of mint are extensively used for mouth washes, also for scenting soap, in liqueurs and pastils, but rarely in handkerchief perfumes. ”

“ Oil of curled mint contains a terpene, C10H16, and a body isomeric with carvol, the carvol of curled mint, C10H14O. Its specific gravity, boiling point and chemical properties are the same as those of the carvol of caraway oil, but it differs from it by its odor and turning the plane of polarization to the opposite direction. In conjunction with other volatile oils, oil of curley mint is sometimes used for perfuming soaps. ”

“ Nearly two-thirds of our coinage comes from the mint at Philadelphia, which is the largest and most completely equipped mint in the world. The coins for nearly all the South American countries are also made in this mint. ”

“ They are easily increased by dividing the roots in the spring or autumn, by taking off runners in the autumn, or by cuttings taken in the spring. The cuttings should be planted about half way into the earth. To have really good mint, it should be transplanted about every third year. Green Mint is sometimes required in the winter and early spring, and this may be provided by putting a few outside runners in a pot and placing it in bottom heat. “Plant for succession every three weeks, as forced roots soon decay.” ”

“ The mint receives the gold and silver by weight and assay of purity, melts and refines and mixes with alloy, to bring the mass to required fineness, nine-tenths pure, and casts the metal into bars called bullion. ”

“ They were dug up in 1858, and sent to the Mint as bullion, to be melted. They are of pure gold, but the workmanship is very crude. The images are in the forms of a reptile, a bird, and a man with symbols of power in his hands, not unlike those designating Jupiter. There are also, in the first section, two large cases with choice selections of mineral specimens, carefully classified and labeled. These are from well selected results of years of patient collecting, and are deserving of more study than can be devoted to them by casual visitors. ”

“ The menthol is obtained by subjecting the oil to a low temperature, when it crystallizes out and is separated. The two varieties of M. arvensis just named yield much more menthol than M. piperita. It is remarkable, however, that the M. arvensis, var. javanica, growing in Ceylon, has not the flavour of peppermint but that of garden mint, while typical form of M. arvensis grown in Great Britain has an odour so different from peppermint that it has to be carefully removed from the field lest it should spoil the flavour of the peppermint oil when the herb is distilled. ”

“ All of the scales and delicate test instruments in use by the government, not only in Philadelphia Mint, but at the several branch mints, are manufactured in this country, and as examples of wonderful mechanical machines of minute accuracy they lead the world. ”

“ French peasants have no use for mint in their cooking. Some English visitors had once planted a root of it in pére Duval's garden, but after they were gone he flung it out again on to the cliff-side, where it had increased and multiplied until it was now a large bed. ”

“ A mint will, therefore, become of the utmost importance, to give such marketable value to silver bullion as to enable the merchants of those countries to keep up and increase the intercourse with our principal ports on the Pacific. ”

“ This herb used to be strewn in churches. All the various kinds of it were thought to be good against the biting of serpents, sea-scorpions, and mad dogs, but violently antagonistic to the healing processes of wounds. “They are extreme bad for wounded people, and they say a wounded man that eats Mints, his wound will never be cured, and that is a long day! But they are good to be put into Baths.” [28] The “gentler tops of Orange Mint” (Mentha citrata?) are recommended “mixed with a Salad or eaten alone, with the juyce of Orange and a little Sugar.” ”