Np. I was just curious. I have never seen bay leaf added to a cake…let alone layered in.
We always have Bay Leaves on our spice shelf. It’s always added to stews, and any soups that are not cream based. We’re liberal in the usage…
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whenever a recipe asks for a bay leaf i put in two. i rarely get the fresh ones, but i do like them a lot. i use them in almost any kind of stew/braise/guisado/soup I make. And if i don’t take them out of the pot, at least I try not to serve them up.
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Bay is one of my most used herbs/spices (which is it?). I use it in soups, stews, braises, rice dishes, bechamel (I think?), pasta sauce, certain rices, Mexican, French, Spanish, and Filipino food. Tonight I threw a few leaves into adobo. An interesting dish I learned in French cooking class had us slice new potatoes in half not quite through and sandwich a bay leaf in each potato. Baste with butter and bake till tender. Really fragrant.
I also really like Katie Button’s salmorejo recipe, adapted for chicken thighs, which calls for blending bay leaves with chilies: https://www.saveur.com/braised-rabbit-conejo-en-salmorejo-katie-button-recipe
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When I was in Rome . I remember walking from the Coliseum and seeing these bay trees . I stepped off the path and pulled some right off the tree . I had them in my front shirt pocket all the way through customs and back home . Made a pot of borelleti beans with a little ham and those bay leaves . You could taste the history.
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I wish I could credit the source, but I remember reading that bay is not something you notice in a dish - you only notice when it’s missing from a dish.
I use them often.
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Yesterday I posted the red rice recipe my family has been making for generations. I found it odd that bay leaf was not included and I plan to start doing so.
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We’re big on stews and braises at Casa Rat, so we use a lot of bay leaves. I made some nice fried diced
potatoes the other night using curry leaves and bay leaves, among other things.
We realized some years back that the secret to the delicious beans at a favorite Peruvian chicken place was a LOT of bay leaves - so we started doing mayacoba beans that way.
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Thing I like about it is, you can’t describe it. Taste, and scent. Perfume-y.
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I changed from dry to fresh when I moved somewhere I could grow a bay and haven’t gone back - definitely more of a fragrance than something dry in the back of your cupboard. I’m sure the “freshly” dried ones are better but I don’t get through things fast enough.
I’ve never done a double blind test but I’m sure adding bay to milk when making a bechemel has a noticeable effect.
Other than that they regularly get bunged into anything cooked for a while in a liquid; stocks, braises, curries, whatever.
I added one to a vodka I was making for use in bloody marys (with garlic and a few over savory flavours), and it definitely contributed to it. But I agree, it’s often very much a background note to a dish.
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Well, you’ve all convinced me that bay leaf is good stuff! I called a nursery where we buy alot of plants and they told me when a live bay leaf plant will be avail. for sale.
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Made a pot of lentil soup with bay leaf, onion, celery in vegetable broth. Smells fantastic.
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Bay leaves are a must in my Cuban black beans
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Could you share your recipe pls.
Don’t use recipes per say but basic method
Dried black beans washed and put a Dutch Oven. Covered with salted water to which diced onion, green pepper, garlic, olive oil and bay leaves are added. Bring to boil and simmer until tender stirring occasionally
I know some say don’t salt beans or they don’t cook. Not my experience. You can’t get the salt in the beans after they are cooked
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Thanks! I have the ingred on hand. Get to use more bay!
This recipe does not technically call for bay leaves, but I used them liberally, and it is delicious.
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Looks very tasty.
The beans came out really tasty. I added fresh cilantro at the end, perfect!
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Glad to hear. I get so much more satisfaction from cooking a big pot of beans than cooking a high end steak.
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