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The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form
bay leaf, also called laurel leaf, leaf of the sweet bay tree (Laurus nobilis), an evergreen of the family Lauraceae, indigenous to countries bordering the Mediterranean. A popular spice used in pickling and marinating and to flavour stews, stuffings, and fish, bay leaves are delicately fragrant but have a bitter taste. They contain approximately 2 percent essential oil, the principal component of which is cineole. The smooth and lustrous dried bay leaves are usually used whole and then removed from the dish after cooking; they are sometimes marketed in powdered form. Bay has been cultivated from ancient times; its leaves constituted the wreaths of laurel that crowned victorious athletes in ancient Greece
USES OF BAY LEAF:
Bay leaf is a leaf that is used in cooking mostly for its aromatic purpose. Bay leaves can be used fresh or dried for their distinctive taste and flavor. There are different types of bay leaves found and all of them are used in different types of cuisines.
It adds minimal calories to your food while boosting the amount of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Some notable health benefits of bay leaf include:
Immune system health. Bay leaf is a good source of vitamin A, vitamin B6, and vitamin C. These vitamins are all known to support a healthy immune system.
Bay leaf tea can help ease bouts of upset stomach. The tea is also very aromatic, which can help relieve sinus pressure or stuffy nose.
Reduces type 2 diabetes risk factors. A pair of small studies suggested that taking ground bay leaf capsules or drinking tea brewed from Turkish bay leaf may lower your blood sugar levels. However, one of the studies was small and the other tested bay leaves on healthy volunteers, not people with diabetes.
Bay leaf is a good source of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, calcium, iron, and manganese.
1. Bay leaves can be used either Fresh or dried. They are used in cooking due to their distinctive flavour and cinnamon like fragrance that they impart to the food.
2. In Indian cuisine especially, bay leaves are used to flavor rice dishes like biryanis and pulaos. Here they can either be added to the masala paste with the rice or added to the raw rice to imbibe the flavor while cooking.
3. Bay leaves form one of the main ingredients for the Indian Spice Powder, Garam Masala, that is mainly used in a lot of Punjabi cooking.
4. In Indian cuisine, the leaves are also often used whole while tempering for vegetable dishes like subzis or even dals and removed before serving. Some dishes that use bay leaf are Paneer Makhani and Gujarati Dal.
5. They can also be used to flavor the filling of certain snacks like kachori as they impart a strong flavor to it.
6. The leaves are often used to flavour soups like tomato soup, or stews that are mostly Mediterranean.
7. The leaves also flavour classic French dishes such as bouillabaisse and bouillon.
