It may be jarring to finish up with a bay leaf in your mouth whereas eating on a luscious soup or hearty stew. The second your tongue finds this jagged and unappetizing leaf, chances are you’ll panic, questioning, Are you able to eat bay leaves or ought to I spit this out?

That’s due to a longstanding rumor that bay leaves are poisonous, due to their visible similarity to different members of the laurel household—resembling mountain laurel or cherry laurel—that are toxic to people and livestock. Learn on to find the reality about that bay leaf.

Can You Eat Bay Leaves?

No, you shouldn’t eat bay leaves. Even after hours and hours of simmering in a pot, bay leaves are nonetheless shockingly powerful and pointy. They appear to defy all cooking logic, and don’t soften or grow to be tender. As such, ingesting a bay leaf will lead to an disagreeable sensation in your mouth, could scratch your mouth or esophagus, and will find yourself changing into a choking hazard. Subsequently, you shouldn’t eat bay leaves or serve one to your loved ones or dinner company.

Are bay leaves toxic?

Bay leaves aren’t toxic or poisonous. Nonetheless, in the event you chew right into a bay leaf, you’ll instantly wish to expel it out of your mouth as a result of it’s practically not possible to chew or swallow, regardless of how lengthy it’s been cooked.

What To Do with Bay Leaves

Bay leaves add simply the precise taste word to many slow-cooked dishes, from stews and soups to braised meat dishes. However as a result of no one needs a shock bay leaf of their mouth, it’s finest to discard them previous to plating.

To make this process simpler, preserve bay leaves complete and bear in mind what number of you included in your recipe, so you understand how many to take away. For a foolproof technique that gained’t require a fishing expedition in an enormous vat of soup, add your bay leaf to a bouquet garni (herbs held along with kitchen twine or bundled collectively in cheesecloth).

What do bay leaves style like?

Whereas sniffing a dried bay leaf could yield suspiciously little aroma, there may be loads of taste packed inside. You simply want a cooking liquid and a few warmth to coax it out.

A bay leaf has an nearly minty taste, with refined notes of pine and black pepper. It’s a kind of flavors that you could be not have the ability to determine in a dish instantly, however in the event you dig right into a soup or stew that failed to make use of a bay leaf, you’d discover “one thing” was lacking. This unassuming ingredient will make all of the distinction in Vegetable Turkey Soup, Country Chuck Roast with Mushroom Gravy and Crawfish Etouffee.