There are many ingredients that are essential to the Lebanese larder and dried mint is one of them — to be honest, fresh mint is also an essential ingredient but kept in the fridge rather than in the pantry unless it is planted outside, either in the garden or on the balcony. I personally find dried mint a lot more flavourful than fresh, especially these days when fresh produce seems to be less flavourful. And when dried, mint also imparts a different and more intense minty flavour.
Dried mint is used in yoghurt dishes, with stuffed vegetables, in salads and as a garnish. In London, the fresh mint that I buy is rather tough and furry and not so fragrant whereas in Lebanon, the herb that is grown and sold has a softer leaf and a stronger taste. I think the latin name is Mentha spicata (or spearmint) and it is important that you use or grow the right variety as there are many, with some having an off-putting medicinal taste.
Most Lebanese home cooks dry their own in the summer to keep as part of their müneh (winter preserve) and my mother is no different. She also dries her own (as you can see from the picture above). This time she picked the leaves off the stalks and spread them on platters. They have been there since I arrived three weeks ago and they now seem to be completely dry. Other times, she keeps the mint bunched up, then ties a string around the stalks before hanging the bunches upside down and leaving them until completely dry. Either way, once dry, she crumbles the leaves and transfers the ground dried mint to glass jars which she hermetically seals and keeps in her spice cupboard. Spreading the leaves to dry takes less time than when bunched up. The prep time is longer because you have to pick the leaves off the stalks but the drying time is shorter!
Anyhow, here is a little known recipe for a dip that I like to call a lebanese ‘salsa’ because it reminds me of Mexican salsas. You can serve it pita chips or kebabs to fried vegetables to name a few.
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