At Bay

Whenever I cook with bay leaf, I use it whole and try to pull it all out before service. Doesn't always work and someone often ends up chowing down on some heavy duty foliage before discarding it.

Was watching a cooking show where they powdered the bay. Never thought of doing that, but I expect it would extract more flavour that way and would eliminate the mouth full of leaf risk.

Has anyone tried this before> Does a regular spice or coffee mill do the job (there are hard ribs in the leaves...)?

[Jenise]

Are you using dried? I've never powdered bay myself, and now that I grow it I only use fresh.

Well, I have some fairly stupid stories about bay leaves so here we go

I ordered a large quantity of bay leaves from Penzey's a while back. I had thought I could just replenish the jar in my spice rack, and another container I had, and keep them full of nice easily available bay leaves. What I realized when they arrived was that Penzeys had sent me some DAMN BIG bay leaves, too big for the jar even if you split them in half. I wasn't sure what to do with them.

One thing that came up is that we developed a bad case of pantry moths. They were getting into the rice, the flour, the cereal, the cookies, the dog biscuits, even the baking chocolate. Miserable. I threw away a lot of stuff -- it was like preparing for Passover if you're Jewish -- and filtered through some other stuff. But one thing I learned is that if you put bay leaves in your flour tin, bay leaves in your cereal boxes, etc., the smell has a powerful discouraging effect on those moths. And when I learned my tenants also had these moths I could make up a package of bay leaves for them.

The other story. At Christmas we often visit my brother in law's family down near Annapolis MD. They have some favorite neighbors who come over and eat with us or meet us at restaurants. My sister in law had an idea that she wanted to make some special drink after dinner that used Bailey's Irish Cream. So since the neighbors had not arrived she called and said "Do you have any Bailey's? Oh good could you bring some over?" Of course the neighbor arrived with a plastic bag full of bay leaves. This struck everyone as wonderfully funny and we had a good laugh. The next Christmas I bought a bottle of Bailey's in a box, and packed the box with Bay leaves to give to my sister in law. That way, it works no matter WHAT you want.

I am not comfortable with bay leaves ground up. I think they are bad to eat partly because they have sharp abrasive edges. Wouldn't some of the little pieces in the powder also have sharp edges??

It makes me think of filé, the spice for gumbo, but I think THAT is made of ground up sassafras leaves, right?

Ground bay leaf is fine but it has the same problem as other ground spices: loses potency fast.

Ground bay leaf is fine but it has the same problem as other ground spices: loses potency fast.

That would be my concern, too. I have some Turkish whole bay leaves that I store in a Ziploc-type bag and they still evoke my childhood memories of walking on trails lined with Bay laurels whenever I open the bag.

Mark Lipton

[Robin Garr]

they still evoke my childhood memories of walking on trails lined with Bay laurels whenever I open the bag.

Muir Woods is full of them! Mary and I came out of there with pockets full. (I guess it's okay to tell this now - the statute of limitations is long past.)

Of course, the bay laurels in Muir Woods would be California bay laurels, not the true old-world bay laurel that is preferred for cooking.

-Paul W.

In answer to the original question, a coffee grinder works just fine on bay leaves. There are some Indian masalas that call for bay leaves and I use the coffee grinder that I reserve for grinding spices on them all the time. Works like a charm.

-Paul W.

[Robin Garr]

Of course, the bay laurels in Muir Woods would be California bay laurels, not the true old-world bay laurel that is preferred for cooking.

And the Pedant of the Day award goes to ..

For the record, Paul, I know that. But I'll also tell you that Mary and I had a wonderful time in Muir Woods, the California Bay Laurels tasted great in dishes for months afterward, and every time we ate a dish made from them, we remembered Muir Woods and a happy day.

Frank,

I can commiserate regarding the pantry moths. I got a very bad kitchen infestation of some sort of weevil from a package of rice flour that I bought at a Chinese grocery. They got into everything--the flour, masa harina, cornstarch, sugar. They crawled into the salt shaker and died there (it's really gross shaking dead bugs onto your food). The larvae even gnawed their way into packets of Instant Breakfast, ate all the sugar and powdered milk, and left nothing but the cocoa.

As with your infestation, it took a major cleanup to get rid of the bugs. I now keep all my starchy foodstuffs in mason jars.

-Paul W.

I knew you knew, Robin.

Muir Woods certainly is beautiful. And so quiet! I have fond memories of the day I spent hiking around there.

-Paul W.

Thanks, Paul.

Jenise, we don't grow Bay (I have always relied on the kindness of strangers - oops, sorry, didn't mean to make you 'blanche'...) so mine is indeed dried. I was thinking about keeping it as I have always done, and powdering it only right before use, to extract some added flavour and to eliminate things you have to remove before eating.

I've coined a term for the pantry pest bugs: I call them "shelf life".

-Paul W.

I have a CA bay laurel tree and I can say that we love the flavor the leaves impart into our foods. Our California Bay Laurel leaves can be used in cooking much like the leaves of the European Laurus Nobilis. However, they are much stronger! That being said, they are also wonderful trees to have in ones yard.

[Jenise]

Thanks, Paul.

Jenise, we don't grow Bay (I have always relied on the kindness of strangers - oops, sorry, didn't mean to make you 'blanche'...) so mine is indeed dried. I was thinking about keeping it as I have always done, and powdering it only right before use, to extract some added flavour and to eliminate things you have to remove before eating.

I thought Les was keeping you supplied. Would be happy to share, if you enjoy fresh. I do but have offered some to others who turned them down, preferring dry. They do taste different like so many herbs dry vs fresh, but now that have fresh at my disposal 24/7 I've adapted to it's flavor and wouldn't go back.

I like them fresh too, but I use them seldom, so by the time I get around to needing them, they inevitably wind up being dried anyway!

I prefer fresh bay leaves too. If you have to go dry, I would just as soon use the powdered than whole. Pensey's used to sell both powdered bay in small jars and a blend called bay leave seasoning which was excellent. Unfortunately they discontinued both. There are other sources of the powdered bay or as others have said you can do it yourself.