You can find bay leaves in our hedge at the Tasting Centre and at the front gates at Green Olive at Red Hill.
Intersting Facts about Bay Leaves
Bay leaves are a group of aromatic leaves used in a variety of different cuisines. Our bay leaf hedge is made of the bay laurel variety, but there are also Californian, Indian, Indonesian and Mexican bay leaves, all slightly different in flavour. Millions of years ago, the Mediterranean Basin was covered in evergreen, glossy forests called laurel forests as the climate was a lot more humid. During the Pliocene era, the forests dried up and bay laurel plants are a relic of these laurel forests. Scientists often use the presence of naturally occurring bay leaf shrubs and trees in the Mediterranean as evidence that a laurel forest once thrived in that area.
Health Benefits of Bay Leaves
Being native to the Mediterranean, bay leaves are an important part of Italian, Greek and Spanish cuisine. They are used most often in soups, stews and sauces to add a herbal flavour, similar to oregano. Bay leaves are a rich source of vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Additionally, regular inclusion of bay leaves in meals promotes general health. Bay leaves have also even been in the treatment of migraines!
Culinary Uses of Bay Leaves
Bay leaves aren’t eaten whole as they have an unpleasantly bitter taste and can hurt your digestive tract as they are stiff even after cooking. This is why recipes using bay leaves will advise you to remove the bay leaf after you’re finished cooking. Crushed bay leaves impart a stronger flavour but are more difficult to remove, so add some crushed bay leaves to a tea infuser if you’re looking to add some extra flavour to a bolognese, curry or sauce. We use bay leaves in our farm menu in dishes like hummus, chicken liver parfait, beef cheek in winter and to infuse custard for our rhubarb dessert!
Dried bay leaves
A shaped bay leaf tree