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Bay Leaves - What do they add to a meal.


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Old 05-09-2011, 20:38
cuttysark
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Ok, so i've seen loads of recipes say to add a bay leaf during cooking and then take it out. I'm assunimg this adds to the flavour, am I right? What sort of flavour does it add and would food taste so much different if you didn't add it.
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Old 05-09-2011, 21:25
bigc127
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As Gordon Ramsay once said on an episode of Kitchen Nightmares "stick one in your mouth and tell me it doesnt add something"
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Old 05-09-2011, 21:35
smudges dad
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A slight bitterness and richness. Somehow stews are just better with it.

Favourite is bayleaf mash. Boil a bit of milk up with a few bay leaves in it, then leave it to cool. Boil your tatties as normal with a few bay leaves in the water. Remove all bayleaves and mash as normal, using the bay leaf milk instead of butter. Salt and pepper (both freshly ground of course) to taste.
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Old 05-09-2011, 22:27
Espresso
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If you don't know what a bay leaf tastes like, then it's going to be all but impossible to describe it to you. All you can do is try it and see what you think of it.

For such a small thing, it certainly makes a vast difference.
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Old 05-09-2011, 22:47
urbanhermit
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I've only recently began to use bayleafs in a spanish chorizo stew and it does make a difference - and in a good way. Although I do need to remember to add TOO many chilli flakes to the dish
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Old 06-09-2011, 11:47
earthling13
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If you're using dried bay break them in 2 to release more of the flavour.
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Old 06-09-2011, 15:03
Gameranger
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i made a bechemal sauce for a fish pie and was using milk i'd infused with, amongst other things, a couple of dried bay leaves. i noticed there was a little one left in as I was stirring it so picked it out and, without thinking, licked the sauce off it.... never to be repeated! and bizarrely I now seem to have bay leaf awareness powers and can detect one a mile off in any sauce, stew, casserole, whatever.
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