Choice and storage
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| Bay leaf plant. Observe for darkish inexperienced leaves with flower buds. Picture courtesy: Andy |
Historically, bay leaves are picked and dried slowly below the shade away from direct daylight to retain their unstable important oils.
Within the spice shops, one would possibly come throughout completely different sorts of bay leaf preparations. Fully dry, and floor (spicy powder) varieties may also be offered in such shops. Purchase from genuine sources and keep away from these with off-smell, spots, or fungus-inflicted leaves.
As soon as at dwelling, retailer bay leaf in an hermetic jar or container and maintain it away from direct gentle. Since they lose taste early, laurel leaves shouldn’t be saved for longer than a 12 months.
Dried bay laurel berries are additionally getting used as a flavoring merchandise in dishes.
Culinary makes use of
Shiny, dark-green bay leaves can be utilized recent. Nevertheless, they’re at their greatest after being allowed to wilt below the shade for a couple of days until their bitterness has gone, however the leaves nonetheless retain their pleasing aroma.
In the event you encounter bay leaves within the cooked meals, simply maintain them apart earlier than consuming. Apart from being fairly strongly flavored, the laurel leaves are leathery in texture and hard to chew and swallow.
Listed here are some serving ideas:
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Bay leaf is among the components in bouquet garni together with thyme, sage, savory, celery, and basil.
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The spice can be used within the preparation of courtroom bouillon. Court docket bullion is readymade preparation product of water, salt, white wine, vegetable aromatics (onion and celery), and flavored with bouquet garni and black pepper.
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Its dried leaves brewed into an natural tea.
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In style as tej patta, dry laurel leaf at all times discovered a spot within the kitchen spice field in India. The leaf is added to taste fried rice, biriyani, chutneys, and so on.
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Bay Laurel can be an important ingredient in lots of basic sauces corresponding to bread sauce, tomato sauce, and béchamel.
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Bay leaves added to taste cuisines corresponding to seafood, poultry, meat, rice (pulov), and vegetable dishes.
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Bay leaf is used to taste candy dishes like sweetbreads, custards, and lotions.
Security profile
Discard Laurel from the meals earlier than serving since they could trigger choking, and injure the tongue and the digestive tract. Pregnant ladies ought to keep away from consuming them in extra because the chemical compounds in them could trigger abortion.
(Medical disclaimer: The data and reference guides on this web site are meant
solely for the final info of the reader. It isn’t for use to diagnose well being issues or for remedy functions. It isn’t a
substitute for medical care supplied by a licensed and certified well being skilled. Please seek the advice of your well being care supplier for any recommendation
on medicines.)
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Additional studying:
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USDA Nationwide Nutrient Database. (opens in new window).
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Gernot-Katzer’s spice pages. (Opens in new window).