> frequent and I can't fathom why putting what tastes like toothpaste on
> any meat is a good idea.  Since we moved here, I have ordered lamb a
> couple of times.  Once it was served with a small plastic cup of mint
> jelly of sorts.  YUK!

Could have been a lot worse. It could have been
served atop the meat. My parents used to offer
Crosse & Blackwell's mint sauce, my father being
your original Anglophile; I tried it a few times 
and decided that it wasn't the right thing at all.

> Also, I have to admit to perhaps deprived taste buds, because I could
> hardly tell the difference between slices of leg of lamb and beef pot

Part of it is the feed - if they're fed the same
chow, their tastes will end up converging. Also,
meat animals are most often slaughtered immature
and before their proper flavors can come out. In
some cases, as mutton, that might be a mercy.

> roast.  I do use rosemary with beef, in moderation, but it is nothing
> like mint to me.

There's a spectrum of evergreeny to herbal, and
I'd approximately put them from eucalyptus to
rosemary to bay to mint to oregano to sage to 
thyme to marjoram, with quite a bit of overlap
and skipping the line because of different
proportions of essential oils and other flavors.
Some people might characterize rosemary and mint
as in the same flavor family, I certainly do.

The Almost Original Branston Pickle Recipe
categories: copycat, preserve, condiment
yield: 4 lb

9 oz carrots, peeled and cut into small chunks
1 md swede, peeled and cut into small chunks
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
5 oz dates, finely chopped
1 sm cauliflower, finely chopped
2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 md apples, finely chopped, unpeeled
2 md finely chopped courgettes, unpeeled
15 sm cornichons or gherkins, finely chopped
- to 20
10 oz dark brown sugar
1 ts salt
4 Tb lemon juice
3/4 pt malt vinegar
2 ts mustard seeds
2 ts ground allspice
1 ts cayenne pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a large saucepan and bring 
to the boil. Then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook 
until the swede is cooked but still firm, about 2 hr.
Stir well to redistribute all of the vegetables.

Bottle and seal in sterile and hot jars. Allow the pickle 
to age for a few weeks before using, this improves the 
taste and it will become more "mellow".

Serve with cheese, ploughman's lunches, in sandwiches, 
with cold cuts and meats. This pickle is also wonderful 
when added to curries and stews.

French Tart at food.com