Bay

If you’re thinking of starting a herb garden, bay is a strong recommendation for inclusion. Although as a tree, with the potential to grow up to seven metres high in the UK (taller in Mediterranean climes), it will need careful placement.

Year round sunshine

As an evergreen, having a bay tree in your garden gives you access to fresh bay leaves all year round. You will never run out of supplies, even with all the ideas we can provide you for using them! They can also be dried – handy for gifting to others or as back up to keep in the kitchen cupboard. Harvest leaves for drying on a warm day in August when they are packed full of sunshine. Dry them in a dark place to retain their colour, then store in an airtight container. Infusing these leaves in vinegar is considered to bring back the sunshine that is lost as the vinegar’s sugars are converted to acid.

Crowing glory

The Latin name for the bay tree is ‘Laurus nobilus’. Laurus is from the Latin laus ‘praise’ and refers to the crown of bay leaves worn by victorious Romans; ‘nobilis’ means ‘famous’ or ‘renowned’

German herbalist Maria Geuter tells us:

‘On the whole the functions of sweet Laurel are directed to the head, to the processes of nerves and senses, especially to the ear, and to the consciousness … In bygone times the Laurel, in a symbolical way, adorned the human head with the Sun. In our times we have become aware of the valuable mineral substances and these, via the process of nutrition, in reality crown the head with forces of Light, whereas its Warmth-forces of the aromatic oil offer peace to the mind’

Bay has featured in legends and folklore for millennia through Greek, Roman, Indian and Caribbean heritage. It is typically associated with peace, purity and protection.

Peace

Like the olive, the laurel was a symbol of wisdom, glory and peace. Branches were waved in rejoicing to denote victory and great men – heroes, poets, politicians – were crowned with its leaves. From this practice we get the term ‘laureate’ meaning ‘crowned with laurels’. Similarly, the term ‘bachelor’ (as in the Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BSc) given for degrees) is probably derived from bacca-laureus or laurel-berry, through the French bachelier. At one time these scholars were not allowed to marry, lest duties as a husband or father distract their studies, so all unmarried men came to be called bachelors.

Purity

In Greek myth, the nymph Daphne was turned into a laurel tree to save her the amorous pursuits of Apollo (god of light and the arts, prophecy, poetry and healing, who drove the chariot of the sun). The laurel – or bay – is considered sacred to Apollo. The roof of Apollo’s temple at Delphi was made of bay leaves for protection against disease, witchcraft and lightening, and his priestesses would eat the leaves before expounding their oracle (possibly helped into a trance by their slight narcotic properties). Bay is also associated with Apollo’s son, Aesculapius, the Greek god of medicine. It has been used against disease, especially plague, for many centuries.

Protection

Bay is reputed to resist witchcraft, and ‘all the evil Saturn can do to the body’. Culpeper tells us ‘witches or the devil, thunder or lightening cannot hurt if a bay tree is present’, perhaps gaining this inkling from the Roman author Matthiolus’ recounting that ‘Tiberius Caesar wore a head-covering of laurel whenever it thundered’. Embracing this superstition of protection, bay leaf garlands are recreated in architectural mouldings and bay trees are placed by the front door, subtly providing more than a pleasing aesthetic.

Fitting for the New Year, or any new beginning, new month or new moon, you are encouraged to write your goals, intentions or wishes on a bay leaf and then burn it. Throw the ashes out of your front door and ask the universe to bring these things to you, or support you in achieving them.

Plague

The aromatic quality of bay gave it a reputation of resisting contagion. During a time of plague, the Emperor Claudius and his court moved to Laurentium, celebrated for its bay trees. Pliny the younger built his favourite villa nearby. Theophrastus wrote that many people kept a bay leaf in their mouth as an antiseptic. The leaves were also eaten to prevent intoxication.

In 1629, foreshadowing the Great Plague, all the bay trees around the university of Padua withered and died.

In the same year Parkinson’s Paradisus Terrestris was published in which he said: ‘Bay leaves are necessary both for civil use and for physic, yea, both for the living and the dead. It serveth to adorn the House of God, as well as man, to crown or encircle, as with a garland, the heads of the living, and to stick and deck forth the bodies of the dead, so that from cradle to grave we still have use of it.’

How to use Bay

There are many ways to benefit from bay through culinary, medicinal, skincare and household applications.

Bay in cooking

The traditional festive boar’s head was wreathed in bay, with a lemon or roasted pippin in its mouth and rosemary sprigs in its ears.

Bay is used in cooking to promote digestion and absorption of food, it helps break down heavy food, such as meat, stimulate the digestive tract, settle the stomach and reduce flatulence. It can help manage glucose levels and cholesterol and prevent kidney stones. Containing vitamins A, C and B6, as well as potassium and magnesium, leaves can be dried and then ground and used as a sprinkled on additive or seasoning, like salt and pepper.

When cooking, use whole or half leaves and remove before serving as these can be a choking hazard.

Bay is included in bouquet garni (with parsley and thyme), court bouillon, stocks, soups, relishes and marinades. Fish and meat dishes, pates, casseroles, stews, milk puddings. It best used in slow-cooked food. It can work in sweet and savory dishes, try adding a couple of leaves to an apple crumble.

Maria Geuter tells us: ‘It is most effective in food products that grow under the earth, in the dark, and are of a cold nature, such as root vegetables and tubers. The same applies to fish, meat, game, in fact all that belong to the dark side of the food spectrum.’

A dry bay leaf in a storage jar of rice will impart flavour, or with flour and dried figs it will deter weevils.

Bouquet garni
2 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs marjoram
1 bunch of parsley stalks
1 bay leaf
Tie the herbs together with some string or thread.

based on a recipe from Richard Mabey

Bay leaf tea

Drinking bay as a tea brings the combined benefits of incorporating it in food – helping digestion by reducing bloating and gas, aiding blood sugar levels as well as bringing anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits – and aromatic benefits of calm, focus and decongestant. The antioxidant compounds within bay tea provide protection against free radicals, along with the anti-inflammatory properties, these give the potential to support prevention or spread of cancers and leukemia.

Bay to fragrance and stimulate

Bay is valued for its scent. It has been used historically as a strewing herb, particularly in affluent households, and in potpourri.

To benefit from the scent, put leaves on the coals of a BBQ, burn dried leaves (on a tray) to smoke a room or grind leaves to create an aromatic incense powder which can be sprinkled over glowing charcoal. The scent will make mind and muscles feel more relaxed making it easier to focus.

Bay in the bathroom

Restorative bath for aching muscles

A decoction of the leaves and/or berries can be added to a bath to relieve aching limbs. To make this, add a handful of leaves to a pint of boiling water in a pan, boil for five minutes, then leave covered and allow to infuse for ten minutes before adding to the bath. Adding a tablespoon of vinegar can also be beneficial to relax muscles.

Pre-conditioner for hair

The essential oil distilled from the leaves and berries of bay is a traditional treatment for alopecia. The distillation process produces a fragrant greenish-yellow volatile oil known as Oil of Bay, that is used in perfumery.

Alternatively, a fixed oil can be created by macerating bay leaves in a carrier oil, such as sunflower, rapseed or olive oil.

For a pre-shampooing scalp conditioner combine teaspoon of bay oil in nine tablespoons of alcohol and one tablespoon of water.

NB, Oil of Pimenta Acris (the plant from which Bay rum is distilled in the West Indies) is also called Oil of Bay but is a different species. For this an extract of the leaves is blended with cloves, cinnamon and pimento. It is used as a hair tonic and refreshing aftershave lotion.

Deodorant

Incorporate bay in a deodorant for scent. Here’s a simple formula for creating your own at home.

Herbal Spray Deodorant
Rind of two lemons, finely chopped
Rind of two oranges, finely chopped
10 fresh bay leaves, finely chopped
3 tbsp fresh pine needles, finely chopped
3 tsp fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
250ml vodka (or just enough to cover the ingredients)
2 tbsp glycerine
100ml orange blossom water

Place the rinds, bay leaves, pine needles and thyme in a jar and cover with vodka then seal and leave in a dark place for two to four weeks to macerate. Strain into a jug and add the glycerine and orange blossom water. Pour into a bottle with a spray nozzle and label. Keeps for up to a year if stored in a cool, dark place.

From ‘Vital Skincare‘ by Laura Pardoe

Healing bay

Every part of the tree – leaves, berries, bark and oil – has healing properties when used externally.

Ointment of Bay

The fixed oil (laurel oil / laurel butter) expressed from bay berries is green and strongly aromatic. Onguent de Laurier (ointment of bay / laurin ointment) which is used in veterinary medicine is prepared from the oil with axunge (pig or goose fat prepared for medical use). This is also used as a massage oil to treat rheumatism, for this use the bay oil created by macerating leaves in oil can be used as an alternative.

Leaves

Whole – chew before meals to promote salivary secretion which will aid digestion.

Infused – drink two or three cupfuls a day after meals for stomach pains and flatulence.

Tincture – take twenty drops twice daily to cleanse phlegm from the head, lungs and stomach.

Powdered – put 1g in a glass of water, leave for eight to ten hours, then drink as a preventative if fever is anticipated. Can also sprinkle onto chronic ulcers to cleanse and promote healing.

Berries

Decoction – drink two or three cupfuls a day before meals to help rheumatism. Can also add cumin seed, hyssop, oregano and euphorbia to the decoction and blend with honey to use in bathing the head.

Macerate in oil – use for joints, nerves, arteries, womb, stomach, cramps, convulsions and numbness and earaches. Also helps reduce bruising, itching and scabs.

Blend with honey to create an electuary – helps consumption, coughs, shortness of breath, rheums and migraines.

Many ways with bay

Hopefully you are encouraged to find a little room for bay in your garden, and your life. Any of the above suggestions are simple to execute and could prove beneficial.

There is one more curious use however that I came across, that I don’t imagine you’ll want to replicate:

A 17th Century stillroom book incudes a recipe for the treatment of ‘All Manner of Fits’

It includes ‘baye’ within a list of thirty two other herbs.

These should be combined with ‘twelve swallows alive’ and ‘a quart of piggons dung’.