Mint Sauce
1/4 cup chopped mint leaves 1/2 cup vinegar 1/4 cup water 2 tablespoons brown sugar Cook all ingredients in saucepan over very slow fire for about one-half hour. Do not allow to boil. Serve hot.
A cooked mint sauce for lamb or mutton, thinner and sharper than a jelly. The whole recipe hinges on keeping it below a simmer.
- "Very slow fire"The lowest burner setting, with the liquid barely steaming and never breaking into bubbles. On an electric hob, use a heat diffuser or the smallest ring. The recipe gives no reason for the long, gentle heat, but it is plainly infusion rather than reduction, since boiling is forbidden.
- Why it must not boilMint's aromatic oils are volatile and go off quickly at a rolling boil, leaving a flat, hay-like taste and a dull olive colour. A hard boil also drives off liquid and can leave the sauce tasting harsher and less balanced.
- Vinegar choiceThe recipe specifies only "vinegar." A plain white or cider vinegar at the usual 5 percent acidity works; malt vinegar is the traditional English choice and gives a rounder result. Avoid balsamic, which overwhelms the mint.
- The mintSpearmint, not peppermint. Chop the leaves only, stems discarded, and chop them just before cooking, since bruised mint darkens fast.
- Brown sugarLight brown sugar is the safer reading; dark muscovado will read as molasses against the mint. The sugar is there to balance the acid, not to sweeten noticeably.
- Yield and servingAbout three quarters of a cup, enough for four to six servings alongside roast lamb. Pass it separately in a warmed jug rather than spooning it over the meat.
- KeepingThe high vinegar content means it holds a week or more covered in the refrigerator, though the mint fades. Reheat gently, again without boiling.
Mint with lamb is an old English pairing, generally traced to the tradition of serving sharp, acidic sauces with fatty roast meat, in the same family as apple with pork and gooseberry with mackerel. The classic English version is uncooked: chopped mint stirred into vinegar and sugar and left to stand, which is why this recipe's instruction to cook and serve hot stands out, aimed at a smoother, less aggressive sauce.