A small kitchen experiment - stand in front of two jars. One says „mint" (Mentha × piperita, or peppermint). The other „nana" (Mentha spicata, hierbabuena in Spanish, spearmint in English). At home both go by the same name. But they are not the same. And they do different things in recipes.

First test - colour. Peppermint is darker and a deeper green. Spearmint is lighter and brighter. An easy difference when they are next to each other. Without help, at the market, many people just mix them up.

Second test - texture. Peppermint has rougher, thicker, firmer leaves. Spearmint - softer, more delicate, thinner. Rub them between your fingers and the difference is obvious.

Third test - shape. Spearmint has longer, lance-shaped leaves. Peppermint - wider and more rounded.

Fourth test - stem. If the stem is reddish or purplish, it is peppermint. Spearmint has a green stem.

Fifth test - smell. Peppermint smells intense, sharp, with a strong menthol character. Spearmint is sweeter, softer, fresher. Drop a leaf into tea and you feel the difference immediately.

How are they used? Spearmint more often in savoury recipes. With lamb in a pan, with grilled meat, in tabbouleh and couscous, with kaymak and yogurt. Peppermint - more often for drinks (Moroccan tea, mojito), for sweet recipes and chocolate. The classic „chocolate mint" is peppermint, not spearmint.

The Balkan kitchen uses both without much thought. In Macedonian both are often just called „nana". That is why in recipes from Spanish, Greek or Italian sources it is worth checking what is actually written - peppermint is not the same as spearmint.

For fresh melon or watermelon salads - spearmint. For a warm chocolate cream - peppermint. For beef with a Greek yogurt sauce - both work, but spearmint gives a more natural Balkan flavour. And for that everyday cold lemonade on a terrace - spearmint wins every test.