The Carrot Purple and Other Curious Stories of the Food We Eat (Rowman & Littlefield Studies in Food and Gastronomy) by Joel S. Denker

Author:Joel S. Denker [Denker, Joel S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2015-10-01T00:00:00+00:00

Vigor and Venery

the story of mint

“The savor or smell of water minte rejoyceth the heart of man,” the seventeenth-century herbalist John Gerard wrote. “The smell of minte does stir up the minde.” Mint, it was long thought, invigorated the spirits and stimulated the appetite. Native to the Mediterranean and a member of an aromatic family that includes basil, marjoram, and oregano, it was beloved in ancient cultures.

A minty fragrance suffused Hebrew synagogues as parishioners stepped on the leaves and stems scattered on the floor. To the Greeks, mint was an exhilarating tonic for the body. They scented their bathwater with the aromatic, and Athenians rubbed their arms with it to strengthen them. In Greece, the herb added a festive touch to celebratory occasions. Guests often arrived wearing crowns made from the leaves. Sprays of mint decorated dining tables. When guests visited, families rubbed crushed mint leaves on their tabletops.

Mint, however, could be fearsome as well as exhilarating. It could chill the body in addition to reviving it. The Greeks captured their conflicting feelings about the herb in a myth about its origins. In one version of the tale, the water nymph Minthe, charmed by his golden chariot and four black horses, became the mistress of Hades, god of the underworld. When Hades instead married Persephone, the thwarted nymph threatened to drive her rival from the palace. Enraged at this seductress, Persephone “tore her limb from limb,” as French scholar Marcel Detienne puts it. Hades transformed the remains of his lover into a plant called menthe, or “sweet-smelling.” The herb flourished in the shade of the lower depths. In honor of Minthe, young Greek women wore bridal wreaths adorned with sprigs of mint.

A second recounting of the myth is more hostile to the nymph. In this story, Demeter, Persephone’s mother and the goddess of agriculture and fertility, tramples on Minthe. A common grass springs up in her place.

As represented in the myth, mint is simultaneously hot and cold. In the first story, Minthe, a woman of seductive powers, is turned into a fragrant plant. In the other, the nymph metamorphoses into a cold, wet herb emblematic of death and darkness. To the Greeks, scholar Detienne contends, mint arouses men but also destroys sexuality by melting sperm or making women sterile.

Compared to the Greeks, the Romans welcomed mint effusively. It inspired intellectual excitement, naturalist Pliny believed. He urged students to wear crowns of spearmint to “exhilarate” their minds.

It also sharpened the taste buds. “The very smell of mint reanimates the spirits and its flavor gives a remarkable zest for food,” Pliny wrote. The Romans pickled mint in vinegar and scented wine with it. Recipes from the gastronome Apicius called for a mint sauce with cumin seeds and pine nuts to enhance roast pork, and for one flavored with almonds, oregano, and honey for cold fish.

To the Romans, mint was a potent curative. When someone fainted, they used its leaves like smelling salts. The same restorative powers, Pliny thought, made the “juice of mint gathered, inhaled .

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