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BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

I cook all the time, every day, and have never once said, “This needs a bay leaf.” I don’t even know when it’s appropriate to use it. My mom puts a bay leaf in everything - spaghetti sauce, chili, pot roast, etc. - but I’m not convinced she knows what she’s doing, she just does it.

Seriously, what’s a bay leaf for? What does it do to the flavor?

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vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
It has a soft flavor. I don’t put it into anything spicy, and probably won’t be noticeable with the way Americans seem to do seasoning. But if I’m making a soup with some meat and potatoes and various vegetables, I’ll put it in, it’ll be noticeable.

If you just boil beef with and without it, you’ll feel the difference the most, I think.

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mapu@slrpnk.net ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I’ve read it enhances every other flavour, kind of like salt but without making things salty

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- BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Hmm, that’s interesting. I got a pot of chili scheduled for later today, I’ll try a bay leaf.
  
  I’ve been perfecting my chili recipe for years. It includes red wine, cocoa powder, and lime juice. Perhaps a bay leaf will become part of it.
  
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  - eldoom@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Have you tried a little bit of espresso grounds? It adds a certain flavor to meats that’s just… incredible… Might not go with what you have here though.
    
    Or like tap out the tiniest amount of cinnamon on your hand and add whatever falls off of it? It shouldn’t even be enough to say there’s cinnamon in it. It’s like nature’s msg, it just makes it taste better, gives it a good homogeneous flavor that pops somehow. Straight up witchcraft
    
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    BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
    Cinnamon is my favorite spice, but I don’t put it in my chili, even though I know people who do. I think I’d be able to taste it too much.
    
    And I’m not a coffee drinker, at all, so I don’t think a coffee ingredient is going to work for me. I get it, though.
    
    The cocoa powder was the big revelation for me, it really adds a nice hint of molé. Next was lime juice, which does something to balance the flavors. I’m finding it handy for lots of stuff.
    
    I’ve been experimenting with soy sauce, too.
    
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  - paperazzi@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Bay leaf is subtle but nicely “rounds out” the dish. It’s not a distinct spice flavour like pepper or thyme. I use it in a lot of the food I cook but not everything. Putting it in chili is exactly where it should be put.
    
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    BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Interesting, I’m looking forward to giving it a try.
    
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- OleFoFa@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  I just toss a sprinkle of msg in, does wonders
  
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  - nomy@lemmy.zip ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    MSG only enhance umami and has a distinctly salty flavor. Try substituting a bay leaf for a fuller, richer flavor. You may want to remove the leaf before serving.
    
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    SpongyAneurysm@feddit.org ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    MSG isn’t just enhancing umami, it tastes umami by itself, because the umami taste is triggered receptors on the tongue that react to some amino acids, one of them being the glutamate in Mono-Sodium-Glutamate. The salty part comes from the sodium, which has its own receptors as well.
    
    This stuff is literaly made for our taste buds.
    
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