Seasonal Pantry: How to use ancient, evocative bay

A few weeks ago, a friend who lives in Santa Rosa trimmed her large, Turkish bay tree and alerted friends that there were branches for the taking. I stopped by and snagged one for myself, which barely made a dent in the fragrant pile. Once the leaves had dried, I filled two pint jars with them and had enough left over to fill two quart-size freezer bags, which I’m giving to friends. At about the same time, I also got a branch of fresh California bay from Cliff Silva of Ma & Pa’s Garden in Sebastopol. Those leaves are dry now, too, and I’m refilling a pint jar of them that is almost empty.

I love bay, with its evocative aromas and slightly pungent, slightly astringent flavor. If I forget to add a leaf to, say, beans, I miss it and always add at least two to meat stocks. Without it, there’s a hole in the flavors.

Bay is an ancient herb, native to the Eastern Mediterranean area and today known primarily as Turkish bay, though it is also called Grecian, Italian and European. It is all the same variety, laurus nobilis. It is considered the best bay in the world, more subtle and more nuanced than California bay, umbellularia california.

As you might expect with an ancient plant, a great deal of mythology is attached to bay laurel. It is said that Apollo, jilted by Daphne, turned her into a laurel tree, just as Persephone transformed a rival into mint.

In folklore, bay laurel is said to protect against witchcraft, lightning and a range of diseases. When the leaves are burned, inhaling its vapors is said to trigger prophetic drams; putting a leaf under your pillow supposedly has a similar effect.

Branches of bay were woven together to form roofs and it has long been used as an honorary garland. Ancient Greeks carved images of bay into the moldings of their buildings and it became an honor to be crowned with a wreath of bay laurel, which was considered a symbol of wisdom. Such honorary terms as “laureate” and “baccalaureate” have their roots in this ancient custom, as does the phrase, “resting on one’s laurels.”

If you want fresh Turkish bay, you need to find a friend who has a tree unless someone shows up to offer it at a farmers market. Several farmers market vendors have fresh California bay. For dried bay, visit your favorite purveyor of spices, preferably a specialty shop such as Savory Spice or the new Local Spicery in Tiburon. I suggest always buying whole bay leaves; mastering the use of ground bay can be a tad tricky and is a topic of its own for another time.

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This recipe is adapted from one in my second book, “The Good Cook’s Book of Oil & Vinegar” (Aris Books, 1992). A new edition of the book will be released next month. The new edition is completely revised, with mostly new recipes, though I kept this one because I love it. It improves for the first three or four days, so don’t be intimidated by the quantity. If you will be refrigerating most of it, leave the bay leaves in the soup so that their flavors continue to blossom. If one slips into an individual bowl, remove it, as it is pretty overwhelming to bite down on a bay leaf, especially if you are not expecting it.

Garden Minestrone

Serves 8 to 10

1 cup olive oil

1 yellow onion, in small dice

3 carrots, in small dice

2 leeks, trimmed with just 2 inches of green remaining, very thinly sliced

1 stalk celery, in small dice

- Kosher salt

1½ pounds fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes, peeled and chopped

1 pound small red potatoes, in medium dice

2 quarts homemade beef stock

3 Turkish bay leaves or 2 California bay leaves

¼ pound pancetta, in small dice

1 head garlic, cloves separated, peeled, and minced

3 tablespoons Italian parsley, finely chopped

1 tablespoon fresh oregano

1 pound baby zucchini or 4 small to medium zucchini

2 cups cooked cannellini or other white beans

6 ounces small dried pasta, such as ditalini, tripolini, farfallini or small shells

- Black pepper in a mill

6 ounces grated aged Asiago or similar cheese

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot set over very low heat. Add the onion, carrots, leeks, and celery and sauté until the vegetables are very soft, about 25 minutes. Season with salt.

Add the tomatoes, potatoes, the beef stock and the bay leaves and simmer until the potatoes are almost tender, about 12-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, sauté the pancetta in a little olive oil until it begins to lose its raw color. Add the minced garlic, sauté for another 2 minutes, add the parsley and oregano, remove from the heat, and add to the soup mixture, along with the zucchini, cannellini beans, and pasta. Simmer until the pasta is tender, about 7 to 10 minutes, depending on the pasta’s size.

Remove the soup from the heat and let it rest until ready to serve. Correct for salt and pepper and use tongs to remove and discard the bay leaves. Heat through if necessary, ladle into soup bowls, top with grated cheese and serve right away.

Variation: Instead of topping the soup with grated cheese, top each portion with a spoonful of pesto sauce or pistou. For recipes for these two summertime condiments, visit “Eat This Now” at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com

Michele Anna Jordan has written 21 books to date, including the new “Good Cook’s” series. Email Jordan at michele@saladdresser.com. You’ll find her blog, “Eat This Now,” at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com

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A few good ways to use bay leaves

- Add a leaf or two to the water when cooking rice and pasta.

- Always add a leaf or two when cooking dried beans and lentils.

- Add a leaf to the cooking water for potatoes to be mashed.

- Add a leaf to water when blanching fresh fava beans.

- Add a leaf to the water to be used for artichokes, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and green beans.

- When cooking potatoes in a campfire or grill, rub the skins with butter or olive oil, press a bay leaf onto each one and wrap, separately, in aluminum foil.

- Tuck a leaf inside quail, chicken, or duck before roasting.

- Set a leaf on the cut side of winter squash to be roasted.

- Tuck a dried leaf into a jar of rice (white, brown, red, black or wild) to perfume it.

- When making preserved lemons, tuck a leaf or two into each jar.

- Tuck a few bay leaves into fermenting vegetables, especially cabbage.

- If you have fresh bay leaves, add several to each layer of ingredients when making scalloped potatoes.