I popped a few Bay leaves into a pot of beans I was making this weekend and thought about how I have become a person who has Bay leaves, and puts them in things. I've seen people spout off about how they are useless and make no difference. How it's just a scam perpetuated by Big Spice to make you believe your thing tastes better because you used a bay leaf.
I honestly can't tell you for sure if things taste better with a bay leaf than without. I am not the person who shows up at the table and goes, oh, you used corn starch, unless you serve me something that's almost entirely corn starch. So my palette may not be super discerning.
But I drink tea, so certainly know that boiled leaves can do quite a lot. And I have easy access to bay leaves. So I add them into things that simmer, and while I cannot point to an incredible increase in flavor definition, they definitely aren't making anything worse. So I'll keep using them. Because it sure seems like believing I am enhancing the flavor is better than believing it does nothing.
