Bay leaf

Rare card · No. 41799

Bay leaves are aromatic leaves commonly used as herbs in cooking many world cuisines; They come from various plants of species with distinctive flavours and fragrances as desired of those cuisines. The original English bay refers to the laurel (Laurus nobilis) common in Western especially Mediterranean cuisine. Other unrelated species yet dubbed as bay under similar applications include Umbellularia californica ("California bay laurel"), Cinnamomum tamala in Indian cuisine (hence "Indian bay leaf", or "tejpat"), Syzygium polyanthum ("Indonesian bay leaf"), Pimenta racemosa ("West Indian bay"), and Litsea glaucescens ("Mexican bay leaf"). Bay leaves contain essential oils, such as eucalyptol, terpenes, and methyleugenol, which contribute to their taste and aroma in soups, stews, meat, seafood, and vegetable dishes. These leaves are used whole either dried or fresh while cooking before taken out from dishes before consumption as they can be abrasive in the digestive tract; these leaves...

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