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Bay Leaf (Laurus nobilis)

Bay leaves are used to impart flavor to all kinds of meats, fish dishes, sauces, stocks and stews. The fruits are also used, to a lesser extent, for similar purposes. The crushed leaves are an essential ingredient in mixed pickling spices and are used on an industrial scale in meat products, in making vinegar and in pastries.

 

The leaves are added early in the cooking as the taste intensifies gradually. They should be removed from the dish after cooking as they have sharp edges and can cause internal injuries when ingested.

 

The laurel has a long history as a medicinal plant. The leaves and berries are astringent, stomachic, stimulant and narcotic. A decoction of the leaves is used to treat urinary problems and dropsy and is said to be a powerful emmenagogue. The seed oil is useful in treating rheumatic pains.

 

The essential oil of laurel leaves consists of 140 components, with 1,8-cineole making up as much as 50%. The oil is colorless and strongly aromatic with a warm, fresh and penetrating camphor-like odor that resembles eucalyptus leaves. The flavor is peppery, medicinal, and sweet and has a bitter aftertaste.

 

This aromatic tree can grow to a height of 15 meters. When in cultivation, it is usually pruned to a shrub of a few meters tall. The trunk bark is blackish brown. The simple leaves are arranged alternately along the branches and the leaf blades are oblong-elliptical, rough to touch and have distinctive undulating margins. The leaf blades are dark green above, pale green on the underside and dotted with many tiny glands. Ten to 12 pairs of lateral veins are visible on both sides of the leaves. A few yellowish green flowers are clustered in an umbel and found in the axils of the leaf stalk and the branch. The fruit, shaped like an olive, grows to 2 cm long and is a glossy black when mature.

 

Fresh leaves are bitter while old dried leaves are considered poor, so the best leaves are those that have been dried for just a few days. Dried leaves purchased from the supermarket should be kept sealed in a re-sealable plastic bag and placed in a cool, dry place.

 

In classical Greece, wreaths made of laurel leaves were used to honor heroes and poets. The words 'laureate' and 'baccalaureaus' are derived from the word 'laurel'.

 

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Happy Cooking,

Carol

 

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