But chefs know they are essential. Bay leaves are used in cooking around the world, in recipes from gumbo and birria tacos to ...

As far as common cooking ingredients ... leave your bay leaves intact: It's a lot easier to fish out a whole leaf from a pot of soup than to skim for little pieces. Bay leaves do have flavor ...

While bay leaves are often used in cooking to flavor dishes, they also have surprising aromatic qualities. Burning them in your home can bring numerous benefits.

NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe talks to the Boston Globe’s Beth Teitell < > about the bay leaf and whether it’s necessary or not for your dish.

Long cooking draws out the aroma of this herb and most braised, poached and stewed dishes benefit from the addition of a bay leaf, as do soups, stocks and risottos. Add a bay leaf when braising ...

Bay leaves can be purchased fresh, ground and most commonly dried as a whole leaf. When placed into a dish with a long cooking time (such as bolognese), the bay leaf releases herbal, almost tea ...