Recently gluten-free and once a baker by profession, my mission is to adapt old favorite recipes to make this lifestyle change tastier!

English Garden Mint Sauce

In England, the classic Sunday lunch includes roast lamb and roast potatoes. Any traditional English home will always have mint sauce as an accompaniment to roast lamb. Of course, you can't buy mint sauce in Peru. I have tried many times to replicate that Sunday lunch memory, but none came close to the supermarket brands we used to buy.

I came across a recipe from British chef Marcus Wareing for this sauce, and this is the closest you will ever get to the shop-bought sauce. I have adapted the quantities and added a few more details since his was a very basic method. It is very, very easy to make and well worth the effort. It will keep in the fridge for a good two months without spoiling. Enjoy!

Cook Time

Ingredients

• 200 grams fresh garden mint leaves
• 125 ml white vinegar
• 125 grams white sugar

Making Your Own Sauce

Pick off the leaves from the stalk and weigh 200g

1 / 4

Instructions

1. Wash the mint well and dry with a clean tea towel, then pick off the leaves from the stalks.
2. Dissolve the white sugar in the white vinegar in a small pan on the hob top on a slow heat. Once dissolved keep it on the heat for another 3 to 4 mins on a rolling boil.
3. Put a quarter of your fresh mint leaves into a blender and pour your liquid over the leaves whilst blending. Carry on adding small amounts of your leaves until it is all blended.
4. Distribute into two sterilised 210 gram jars.

Sugested Options

• Add 2 teaspoons of mint sauce to a small bowl of plain yogurt to accompany your Indian curry as a condiment.
• Add 1 heaped teaspoon to chopped tomato and cucumber, and mix. Use as a side dish to an Indian curry.
• Use as a condiment on roast potatoes.

The Origin of Mint Sauce

Fresh mint has been used for thousands of years for both culinary and medicinal purposes. According to the Bible, spicy mint sauce was made available with the lamb served at the wedding at Cana. The plant is native to Europe and Asia, but other species have been traced to America and Australia. It was probably the Romans who first created a mint sauce from Mentha spicata, or peppermint (source: Allan Johnson).

Yogurt Mint Sauce

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Comments

lemonkerdz (author) from LIMA, PERU on November 01, 2013:

Hey Joel glad you noticed that. Hope you do have a go at making this recipe, buy a leg of lamb and try it out.

You won't regret it :-))

Joel on October 31, 2013:

125ml of white sugar is that right? How do you measure sugar in ml?

Thanks, I'm excited to make this :)

lemonkerdz (author) from LIMA, PERU on December 10, 2012:

Thanks for coming by MarleneB, The simplest ways are the best, a good dollop on potatoes sounds great to me. And throw on a Lamb chop while you are at it.

It will last you for weeks, i´ve got a jar i made for this hub and it´s still as fresh as when i made it.

Marlene Bertrand from USA on December 10, 2012:

I have a lot of mint growing in my garden. I think I will try your recipe. I am sure I will enjoy it as a condiment on top of potatoes. I can almost taste it. Delicious recipe!

lemonkerdz (author) from LIMA, PERU on November 26, 2012:

Thank you LetitiaFT for comenting. Once you make it you will find many other uses for the sauce & thank you for pinning.

LetitiaFT from Paris via California on November 26, 2012:

Something I've been meaning to try! Pinning this great photo. Thanks.

lemonkerdz (author) from LIMA, PERU on November 20, 2012:

i think everyone should visit yorkshire just for that experience. If you are only allowed a proper cornish pastie from cornwall, so a real culinary experience is a proper roast dinner, Yorkshire pud from yorkshire and a good old minted lamb roast. that's what got me into making my own mint sauce. thanks Tony

Tony Mead from Yorkshire on November 20, 2012:

lemonkerdz

is there anything nicer than lamb and mint sauce, especially with a Yorkshire pud, roast spuds and lashings of meaty gravy, proper champion, good enough to make wallace and Gromit give up cheese.

regards

Tony

lemonkerdz (author) from LIMA, PERU on November 15, 2012:

thanks for the visit and thanks for the great comments, it may not be so popular but it will be once you make it for your friends. hope you visit and enjoy the other hubs.

Kelly Umphenour from St. Louis, MO on November 15, 2012:

Hey lemonkerdz - love it! While Lamb and Mint sauce is not a very popular dish in my area - I have made it. It's been a very long time so heck maybe I should try it again.

I can get good Lamb here now - it used to be next to impossible. Beautiful hub!! I am tweeting it out!

lemonkerdz (author) from LIMA, PERU on October 14, 2012:

Wow lamb shanks, you could make a real business selling this sauce there then. Although i put that the sauce will last for a good few weeks in the fridge, it will last a lot longer, just make sure you use sterilised jars this is the key factor of killing any unwanted bacteria.

thanks for your comment.

Vanderleelie on October 14, 2012:

I have an abundance of fresh mint in my kitchen garden, so before the frost I'll use it in this recipe. Lamb shanks are a favourite dish here. Thanks for the clear and easy directions.

lemonkerdz (author) from LIMA, PERU on October 14, 2012:

thanks so much for your comment vespawoolf. There will be a future hub on mango chutney that goes great with curries and our mint sauce, as in South America the mango season is about to begin!

Vespa Woolf from Peru, South America on October 13, 2012:

I've tasted your sauce, so I can vouch for how delicious it is, especially with curries. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe!

lemonkerdz (author) from LIMA, PERU on October 13, 2012:

Thanks denisemai, hope you get to try making it. it is as good if not better than the foto.

Thanks for sharing it as well. :-)

Denise Mai from Idaho on October 13, 2012:

What beautiful original photos. This looks much better than the stuff sold at stores. Thank you for sharing this lovely hub. Now, I will share it with my followers and on Pinterest.