Bay leaves are a lie

boing
21

Will that make your head explode, like in a Michael Bay movie?

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22

Do you suppose we’re feeding the trolls here?

For the record, never put a bay leaf in chicken soup. The flavor is far too strong and overpowers the chicken.

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23

The evil machinations of the cuminists?

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24

Maybe chicken is the lie.

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25

And thanks, I nearly ended up with reading and more reading. :wink:
Never knew there is an other type of plant, called bayleave and sold fresh.

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26

To Bay or not to Bay, That is the question

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27

Oh how sad! I had a similar childhood, but Minnesota, not Britain.

Would you like a nice recipe for puttanesca?

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28

I think this post should be read in Christoper Walken’s voice. Make it happen somebody.

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29

Eh, I can believe that, but maybe I like chicken flavored bay leaf soup too much. The alchemy of water, a whole chicken, some onion, celery and carrot and a bay leaf is one of my favorite things about cooking. Smells and tastes so good to come from such a small number of simple things.

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My siblings and i all say we learned how to cook young… out of self defence. :wink:

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I wonder if this is one of those smells (and I suppose tastes) that some people can smell and other people can’t, like asparagus pee? I can smell it (the bay leaf that is), and it smells (surprise) like soup. I can only assume it adds to the overall flavor of the dish.

Unfortunately, I can smell asparagus pee, too. Almost makes asparagus not worth eating. But I digress.

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32

The cuminists are a tumor in spice society—a tumor. Ick.

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33

Even a crappy dried bay leaf makes a difference in something like Cuban black bean dishes.

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34

I found this difficult to believe. So, I spent 90 seconds of my life to test if bay leaves were a lie or not. I walked to my kitchen. Grabbed a bay leaf and put it in a ramekin with some water. Microwaved for 60 seconds. Water no longer tasted like water. Why would you post this misinformation?

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35

Ok, ok, but no true bay leaf has any flavor.

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36

Then you’re most definitely using the wrong kind of bay leaves.

If they’ve been in your cupboard for fifteen years because you never use bay leaves, then they’ll be worthless.

Otherwise they’ll have an intense menthol flavor that does indeed help bring out savory, herby flavors in soups and stews.

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37

Napalm also does nothing for a dinner dish. Another lie.

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38

Things you keep in your pantry for 20 years that came with the spice rack you bought when you moved out of your parents house tend to lose their flavor.

It’s recommended you replace your herbs and spices yearly. Find a good health food store or someplace that sells bulk spices you can weight and bag yourself. I can usually replace most of major spices for about 7 dollars. That’s 4-6 tablespoon sized bags of oregano, thyme, peppercorns, allspice, nutmeg seeds, rosemary and bay leaf.

New Bayleaf is also good to keep pantry moths away from your flour, bread crumbs, and rice.

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39

I can only assume that either this person has no sense of smell or has never actually tasted a bay leaf. Bay leaves may be many things, but tasteless and flavorless ain’t two of them. But then again, I’m picking them off my own tree(s), not relying on questionably-sourced, questionably-processed, probably-Chinese leaves of unknown variety that have sat around for some years…

Naw. Most things that we think of as “taste” are actually smell (“super-tasters” are responding negatively to bitter and “fatty” - one of the basic flavors, as it turns out - tastes) - this is entirely about smell. Anosmia is a thing, though.

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Careful - Big Condiment doesn’t take kindly to whistleblowers.

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