Bay

Some fresh leaves tied up and hanging to dry.

Laurel - part 2

Well this is not my "food-pairing" for Bay leaves. But I really wanted to try a cocktail involving Bay Leaf. I made an infusion of ground leaves and simple syrup (pictured above, left glass used dried leaves, right used fresh). Bay doesn't develop a full aroma/flavour until it has been dried for a good few weeks.

The Dried leaf syrup was very aromatic, almost meaty smell with a pungent eucalyptus aroma. The Fresh leaf syrup didn't have much of an aroma at all, and almost tasteless, finishing with a grassy after taste.


I made two identical cocktails (apart from the syrup) 2 dry vermouth, 1 syrup, shaken, poured over ice and topped up with soda.

It's a bit hazy, too much "testing", but from what I recall the dried leaf cocktail was almost savoury/meaty in flavour with a sweet finish, it wasn't unpleasant. The fresh leaf cocktail, had a grassy finish, and seemed to kill the flavour of the vermouth more than the dried, but didn't impart it's own flavour much.

Food pairing

I received this food pairing tree for Bay leaves (Click on the image for an interactive chart or here if you have a pop up blocker).

So the brainstorming begins, how to extract the flavor, and use it differently to how I normally do, unceremoniously chucking it in a pot. I think it's a herb taken for granted and I want to try to do some thing special with it.

Initial thoughts on extracting the flavor, are blitz it with some light olive oil (which it also pairs with) and use it as a dressing, make a stock syrup out with it (serve with some vermouth (another pair) over ice), make a tea from it, or turn it in to a powder to dust with.

As well as experimenting with Laurus nobilis, I'm trying my hand at sous vide slow cooker duck confit.

I have a couple of posts sitting in drafts at the moment, which would get posted except this computer refuses to open the edit posts page.