Ask the Food Lab: What's the Point of Bay Leaves?

It's time for another round of The Food Lab. Got a suggestion for an upcoming topic? Email Kenji here, and he'll do his best to answer your queries in a future post. Become a fan of The Food Lab on Facebook or follow it on Twitter for play-by-plays on future kitchen tests and recipe experiments.Lots of stews, stocks, and soups call for bay leaves, but I don't really taste them in the final dish. Would it make a difference if I left them out?Here's an easy way to see what bay leaves really taste like: throw a couple in a pot of water and let it simmer. Taste it after five minutes and you'll probably get a good hit of menthol and eucalyptus (think: Vick's VapoRub). That's the chemical eugenol you're smelling, and it's the biggest constituent in the bay leaf's flavor arsenal of more than 50 compounds.Let them simmer for longer as they would in a stew—say, an hour or so—and you'll notice that the flavor and aroma will change. The harsh nose-clearing menthol will taper down, while more complex tea-like aromas will start to come forward. Those are the flavors you're looking to add to your soups, stews, and sauces.