Mint Jelly: yay or nay?

[Jenise]

Just curious. The subject of mint jelly as a condiment, especially for roast lamb, seems to inspire either great fondness or absolute revulsion, and the division seems to fall along cultural lines. Most Brits adore it, and most Americans don't get it. In the case of the latter, it doesn't seem to be the mint that's at fault, but the sweetness--we're not a culture who generally likes sweet stuff with our savory food, no matter what ketchup consumption and cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving would suggest otherwise.

Although I don't care for lamb, I'll vote "No" just on general principle because I don't like fruit based dressings, jellies, sauces on any meats.

Richard

Love mint jelly on toast, don't eat lamb.

[Robin Garr]

My bride angrily rejects fruit and sweet flavors in savory dishes. I don't mind them as long as the flavors work and the outcome is not dessert sweet but only, shall we say, "off-dry."

But my problem with mint jelly on lamb isn't the sweetness, it's the strong, unbalanced flavor that results. It strikes me as something our grandparents did, perhaps because they needed to eat lamb but hated the taste and were desperate to cover up the taste.

I would have called it "old-fashioned" rather than "British," but thinking about it, maybe American fare in the '50s was a lot more like British cuisine than it is now.

I like it, but use it sparingly because it doesn't go good with wine. When we have a leg-o-lamb we have a nice Syrah the first night; then we warm it up in gravy with mint jelly and ice tea the second night. Lastly, we curry the remains with a Shiraz.

[Jenise]

My bride angrily rejects fruit and sweet flavors in savory dishes. I don't mind them as long as the flavors work and the outcome is not dessert sweet but only, shall we say, "off-dry."

But my problem with mint jelly on lamb isn't the sweetness, it's the strong, unbalanced flavor that results. It strikes me as something our grandparents did, perhaps because they needed to eat lamb but hated the taste and were desperate to cover up the taste.

I would have called it "old-fashioned" rather than "British," but thinking about it, maybe American fare in the '50s was a lot more like British cuisine than it is now.

Same here re the sweet vs off dry. And I'm consistent--don't like chutneys, cranberry sauce or sweet n' sour pork much either. A honey glaze on a ham or a chicken is about as far as I can go.

But interesting comment you make re old-fashioned vs. British. Maybe the difference in where we grew up? I'm from the west coast and am unaware of mint jelly ever having been popular anywhere at any time in America. Chances are very good, though, that the further east one goes in this country (and therefore the closer one gets to Europe), the more likely it is that mint jelly was something your parents liked. You think?

I've become fond of Crosse and Blackwell Mint Sauce for my lamb. My gourmet cook aunt served it and I love it. My husband prefers mint, apple jelly with his lamb. I've not tried the jelly. If I'm out of the mint sauce, I go without. Something about the slimy jelly with the lamb that I THINK I may not care for.

A definite NAY for me.

-Paul W.

Gotta say I am firmly in the middle on this one, primarily coz I've never tasted mint jelly. As a kid, I don't believe my mom ever made lamb. Closest we ever got to that was the free bones from the butcher that our dog gnawed on.

I'm kinda funny when it comes to things like this. For the most part I don't put sauces etc on meat, unless its less-than-great meat. A buddy of mine in the restaurant business once opined that the French developed wonderful sauces to hide the awful flavor of their beef!! My corollary to that is to avoid meat that needs a sauce! I have trouble understanding why someone would take a nice strip steak and laden it with peppercorns for example. Or steak frites.....if its a nice cut of meat, why do I need a load of butter on top? Same for lamb.

OTOH, chicken, pork, and a lot of fish beg for flavor boosters so sauces and maybe even fruit mixtures can be useful. And meat cuts that require braising are by definition not great cuts so sauces are fine there.

But good beef and lamb....just a little seasoning is plenty!

I like mint jelly on green peas.I also like the mint condiment made from chopped mint leaves and vinegar. It removes the sweet element that so many dislike but maintains the mint.
Best

i agree with your bride 100%

I love lamb. I love mint. But please, for the love of god, keep the mint away from the lamb.

I understand the basis for the green goo, but the sweet mint with the salty is not quite for my tastebuds. I have found some excellent mint sauces on the internet (of all places) that incorporate Raspberry and are very good with the lamb. I served a lovely 2001 French Burgundy with it and it turned out quite good. If you think you might want the recipe, I will retrieve it from home and send it to you. :D

Welcome to the group, Kathryn!

Love mint, can't stand mint jelly. Never did figure out why, especially since I will often make mint syrup to sweeten my ice tea when I don't actually brew the tea with mint (it also tastes quite good in a dry ginger ale).

Following Jenise's comment on west coast vs. east coast, I don't know that I've ever had mint jelly with lamb. I seem to have a dim recollection of it somewhere, but not enough to have formed an opinion. I often like the sweet-savory combination (depending on how it's done) but like Robin, I have a wife who will not abide it. That takes it out of the picture for home use and I've not seen it on a restaurant menu anytime recently. I suppose I'll someday have to try it for the sake of trying it.

Mike

I used to like it as a kid, in P&J sandwiches. I never liked it with lamb.

These days, I have no use for it. It is basically mint flavored apple jelly and is a simple one-trick pony. No complexity.

There are other mint condiments worth the while, like the mint-cilantro-chile chutney used on Indian tables.

[James Roscoe]

My wife's family loves the stuff and they are as American as you can get, being Mayflower descendants (Aldens). I guess the Englishness dies hard, although John Alden was actually a French Huegenot. I never took to the stuff myself and my mother's grandfather came over from Liverpool. So much for theories.

I grew up on the stuff, as we always had roast leg of lamb served with mint jelly on most any special occasion. I will still bring it out when we have lamb and use it very sparingly, but I do like the contrasting minty-sweetness with the savory lamb. My husband thinks I am completely nuts for ever using it--and from other posts, it seems many of you would agree.

Funny story... my former husband and I were at his aunt's for dinner. She made a butterflied grilled leg of lamb, and it was SO spicy , we kept piling on more "mint" jelly (that was served in crystal dish) trying to tame the flames in our mouths. Later when helping to clear the dishes, I saw the jelly jar and learned the "mint" was actually hot pepper jelly, so it wasn't the lamb at all!

The subject of mint jelly Most Brits adore it, and most Americans don't get it.

I don't think so. As a Brit I had never encountered mint jelly before I went to the USA, I think it is disgusting, just a sweet green blurgh that adds nothing to lamb and tastes of nothing but sweetness.

Now, mint sauce is another thing entirely.

The point is -- as I understand it -- because lamb meat is fatty you need something sharp to cut through (or balance) the fat, hence traditional mint sauce which is basically lots of very very finely chopped tender mint leaves in vinegar.

Most people like to sweeten it with a little sugar to take the edge off the vinegar. My mum used to get us kids to pick the leaves from the mint in our garden (grows like a weed) , she's wash it and sprinkle granulated sugar on the chopping board and chop the mint. The sugar helps get a grip on the mint to make cutting easier and sweetened the sauce. Then she used malt vinegar (which we Brits put on our fish and chips which is powerfully flavoured)

Now thats a bit to acidic when you are drinking wine, so I make it with water and some mild red wine vinegar. I don't add sweetening.

You can buy ready made mint sauce and that is always sweetened, but it seems an expensive way to buy water and vinegar. I buy Colmans Fresh Garden Mint, which is basically their mint sauce without vinegar, sweetening or extra water and add my own vinegar and water to taste. It should be thick with mint, the taste of the mint is essential.

So I voted no for mint jelly, but I wouldn't eat lamb without mint sauce. Lovely stuff.

The subject of mint jelly Most Brits adore it, and most Americans don't get it.

I don't think so. As a Brit I had never encountered mint jelly before I went to the USA, I think it is disgusting, just a sweet green blurgh that adds nothing to lamb and tastes of nothing but sweetness.

Now, mint sauce is another thing entirely.

Having had the pleasure of dining on roast lamb at the home of expatriot British friends, I agree completely. Proper mint sauce is heaven. Mint jelly is an abomination.

-Paul W.