Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Herb guide to Catnip and Catmint along with all the Catnip and Catmint containing recipes presented on this site, with 1 recipes in total.

This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Cornish recipes added to this site.

These recipes, all contain Catnip and Catmint as a major herb flavouring.

Catnip, Nepeta cataria, (also known as Catmint or Castwort) is an herbaceous perennial herb in the Laminaria (mint) family of flowering plants that's native to Eurasia (but naturalized in most of the remainder of the world).

Catnip plants can, maximally, reach a height of 80cm and a circumference of 45cm and have the square stem cross-section characteristic of the mint family. The plant has ovate leaves that will reach up to 8 cm long, acute, cordate at the base, crenate or serrate and gray tomentose beneath. The plant flowers between June and September, producing spikes of buff white inflorescences.

Nepeta cataria (and catmints) are mostly known for the behavioural effects they have on cats, not only domestic cats but also big cats. N cataria is used as a recreational substance for pet cats' enjoyment, and catnip and laced-catnip products designed for use with domesticated cats are available to consumers. Not all cats are affected by catnip.[4] The common behaviours when cats sense the bruised leaves or stems of catnip are rubbing on the plant, rolling on the ground, pawing at it, licking it, chewing it consuming much of the plant followed by drooling, sleepiness, anxiety, leaping about and purring. Some will growl, meow, scratch, or bite the hand holding it. Some cats will eat dried catnip.

The chemical responsible for this behaviour in cats (also the predominant chemical in the essential oil) is nepetalactone. Roughly half to 2/3 of cats are sensitive to this chemical. Cats detect it through their olfactory epithelium, not through their vomeronasal organ.

There is some confusion about the common name of this plant as, often, the terms catnip and catmint are used interchangeably (particularly in Britain). However, there is a more restrictive usage where the term 'catmint' is restricted to the closely-related plant, Nepeta mussinii. This miniature-leaved variety, which makes a good rockery plant has a lower level of nepetalactone in its essential oil and is not quite as attractive to cats. The image above shows catnip (Nepeta cataria) on the left and catmint (Nepeta mussinii) on the right.

As well as being attractive to cats, catmint and catnip are also used in human food. They have long been used (fresh or dried) to make herbal teas with a calming and slightly numbing effect. The leaves can also be added to soups, stews and sauces.

The leaves of the plant have a distinctive odour that is somewhat reminiscent of spearmint and pennyroyal but with a slightly camphorous note. Indeed, it can be used as a substitute for pennyroyal, particularly in Ancient Roman and Medieval recipes that call for that herb (though lesser calamint is a better substitute).

There is some confusion in cookery books, mostly translations from Italian regarding catmint. The herb, referred to in Italian as nepeta is lesser calamint (Calamintha nepeta), but it is often translated as catmint (itself a misnomer for Nepeta cataria). However, catnip is edible and can be substituted for lesser calamint where this plant is not available. As a result, all those Italian recipes made with nepeta can also be cooked with catmint.