mint

History of Mint.

Spearmint has been cultivated for so long, that some believe it would be virtually impossible to find it growing in its original form in nature. Biblical references to mint suggest it was of such high value as to be used as tithes by the Pharisees. (Matthew xxiii, 23)
 
Proserpine, Pluto's wife, was said to have transformed a hated rival into the mint plant. Both the Latin, Metha, and the Greek, Minthe, have come to be associated with metamorphosed beauty.
 
It was most likely introduced to England by the Romans and is mentioned by John Gardiner before 1440 as 'myntys'. John Gardiner may have been a pseudonym and little is known about him. He published Feate of Gardening in 1440 but it may have been written much earlier. Feate is perhaps the earliest horticultural work in the English language and was written in verse.
 
Turner (1508 - 1568), who was known as the Father of British Botany, believed it was good for 'ye stomack' and is pleasant in sauces. Culpepper (1616 - 1654), a physician-astrologer who fought in his country's Civil War, suggests that mint should never be given to a wounded man because it will prevent his wound from healing. There also was a superstition that mint should never be cut with iron. (no further explanation was provided)
 
In the 17th Century, John Gerarde described mint as having a "smelle rejoyceth the heart of man."
 

Spearmint Uses.

This species of mint is also known as "Mackerel Mint" and in Germany it was called "Lady's Mint" with a pun on the word munze, a word meaning a building or institution where coins are produced. The name, spear or spire, refers to the spiry form of its floral blossoming.
 
Spearmint was once macerated and added to milk because it appeared to lengthen the shelf-life of milk (remember this is pre-refrigeration days) and keep it from curdling. It was therefore recommended for use by people with delicate constitutions or young children with 'feeble digestive powers'. It was however, not recommended for use when a fever was present. (again, no reason was given for this exception)
 
Spearmint oil is less used than it's stronger cousin, peppermint. The mint sauces and jellies that usually accompany lamb dishes are made of the milder-flavored spearmint. It was once recommeded as a treatment for hiccough, flatulence as well as 'the giddiness of indigestion'. Used externally, oil of spearmint, was thought to heal 'chaps and indolent eruptions.'
 

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