This bag is HUGE! (It looks somewhat like a Ziplock gallon-size resealable bag.) Packaged in a plastic resealable bag, to keep your bay leaf fresh, this is such an incredibly great deal for such a large amount. If you are the kind of person who regualrly uses bay leaves in soups, stews, sauces and the like (especially for winter cooking!), then this bag is for you.

Mountain Rose Herbs provides wonderfully fresh and fragrant herbs that not only taste amazing, but are organic and sustainably harvested. If you cook a lot, you already know that the quality of the ingredients you use makes a huge difference in the final quality of your dish.

All of the herbs we sell are packaged in a resealable ziplock baggie, so are perfect for refilling empty jars or containers that you already have. In this way, you are helping to reduce unnecessary waste.

A bit about bay leaf, provided by Mountain Rose Herbs:

Introduction

The leaf of the bay laurel, a native shrub of the lands surrounding the northern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean, has a mythic history. Ancient mythology recounts that Apollo pursued the uninterested nymph Daphne. Apollo stalked Daphne until the gods granted her protection by turning her into a bay tree. In the Greek language, the herb is still called "dafni."
Romans considered the bay tree the best protection from thunderstorms, and Nero believed that bay trees purified "vapors" thought to cause disease. As recently as the beginnings of the American era, superstition held that when bay trees died, disaster followed.
The greatest commercial production of bay leaf today is in Turkey. Bay laurels do not withstand heavy frost but require hot, dry summers for production of concentrated essential oils. In the US, the plant is best suited to interior southern California, although smaller specimens can survive as far north as Oregon. The bay leaf from California is oilier and more pungent than Turkish bay leaf.

Constituents

Mostly 1,8-cineol, with smaller amounts of alpha- and beta-pinene, phellandrene, linalool, geraniol and terpineol.

Parts Used

Dried leaf whole or broken

Typical Preparations

Whole or crumbled added to cooking, teas.

Summary

CulpepperÍs Complete Herbal recommended bay leaf oil for pimples and "all manner of griefs and pain proceeding from wind." A more modern medical application of the herb would be increasing insulin sensitivity, lowering blood sugars, and retarding weight gain, used as one of many similar herbs, including cinnamon, cloves, and turmeric.

Precautions

None.