Re: [CH]V6 #191 Bay Tree
Cameron Begg (begg.4@osu.edu)
Thu, 25 May 2000 08:18:07 -0400
Hi C-H's,
Michael Bailes (identified himself as someone who does not cook!) by writing:
>I have to talk about Bay Trees on a local community TV station.
>I'm beginning to feel that it is the most useless of herbs.
I completely agree with the list's aromatic herbs and exotic fruit
specialist Brent Thompson. Bay laurel leaves are one of the most
useful and universally used flavoring additions I can think of. They
have the ability to add a richness to many dishes, especially roasted
or slow cooked meats, which defies description.
Those of you who mentioned the plant's insect control properties
might be interested to know that the leaves contain a very small
amount of cyanide. When crushed they release sufficient hydrogen
cyanide to kill butterflies, and were (are?) used in closed
containers by lepidopterists (hah - my spelling checker doesn't know
that one!) because it left the hapless creatures in a relaxed
condition for pinning.
For that reason I would think twice about following Tara Deen's
advice on using the leaves internally in anything but small
quantities.
There you go Michael - more trivia for your talk.
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Regards, Cameron.