According to Chris Cosentino, it’s mint.
Chris is best-known for his artistry with organ meats (which, I confess, I love), but in his most recent blog post, he offers up a laundry list of ideas for mixing more mint into your meals:
- In Piedmont, fresh mint is added to agliata — a mortar and pestle mix of garlic, olive oil, mint, basil and lemon juice. This agliata verde is mixed into fresh cheese, spread on crostini, or tossed into hot pasta.
- In Sicily, minced mint is added along with parsley and basil to caponata, and contributes color and flavor to salads with fennel, olive and blood oranges. And don’t forget my Sicilian-style Baked Cod!In Tuscany, mint is used in the tomato and bread salad panzanella, tames the assertive flavor of tripe, and brightens wild rabbit and boar ragus. After dinner, it is tossed with sugar and fresh frutti di bosco, or woodland berries.
- In Friuli-Venezia Giulia, mint is combined with Montasio cheese in a sauce for polenta or fresh pasta. Mint is also stirred into side dishes, or contorni, of grains, like barley and risotto with wild mushrooms and other mountain herbs.
The best thing about mint is that it grows like a freaking weed. Chris’ full post has many more ideas. Read it and drool. And then cook, because Michael Pollan says we’re quickly forgetting how.
Or skip the cooking, and just make a virtual meal on your Nintendo Wii.
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