Bay leaf

Bay leaf (plural bay leaves) refers to the aromatic leaf of the bay laurel (Laurus nobilis, Lauraceae). Fresh or dried bay leaves are used in cooking for their distinctive flavor and fragrance. The leaves are often used to flavor soups, stews, braises and pâtés in Mediterranean cuisine. The fresh leaves are very mild and do not develop their full flavor until several weeks after picking and drying.^[1]

Taxonomy

Several other plants use the term "bay leaf," but do not refer to the leaves of the B. nobilis. They include:

Berberis

Berberis (pronounced /ˈbɜrbərɪs/ Bér-be-ris),^[1] the barberries or pepperidge bushes, is a genus of about 450-500 species of deciduous and evergreen shrubs from 1-5 m tall with thorny shoots, native to the temperate and subtropical regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and South America. They are closely related to the genus Mahonia, which is included within Berberis by some botanists. Species diversity is in South America, Africa and Asia; Europe has a few species, and North America only two.

Asarum europaeum

Asarum europaeum, commonly known as Asarabacca, European Wild Ginger, Haselwort, and Wild Spikenard, is a species of wild ginger (unrelated to the rhizome spice ginger) with single axillary dull purple flowers, lying on the ground. It is widespread across Europe, ranging from southern Finland and northern Russia south to southern France, Italy and the Republic of Macedonia. It is also grown extensively outside of its range as an ornamental. It is sometimes harvested for use as a spice or a flavoring^[1][2]

The stems are 10-15 cm long. The leaves are petiolate and reniform and about 10 cm wide. It occurs mostly in deciduous woodland or coniferous forests, especially in calcareous soils. There are two recognised subspecies other than the type, including A. europaeum ssp. caucasicum, which is confined to the southwestern Alps, and A. europaeum ssp. italicum, which is found in central and northern Italy as well as in the Crna Gora mountains in former Jugoslavia. In former days, it was used in snuff and also medicinally as an emetic and cathartic. It is quite shade-tolerant and is often employed as a ground cover in gardens where little else will grow

Description

The plant is a perennial and has prostrate stems that each bear 2 reniform (i.e. kidney-shaped) leaves with long petioles. The upper surface of the leaves is shiny and they have a pepper-like taste and smell. There are also 2 to 3 stipules present that occur in two rows opposite each other on the stem. the flowers are solitary, terminal and nodding. The flower tube is composed of fused tepals that ends with 3 petal-like projections that are brownish towards their ends and dark purple toward the centre. There are 12 stamens present. The flowers emerge in the late winter and spring.^[3]

Distribution and habitat

Asarum europaeum has a wide distribution in Europe. It ranges from southern Finland and northern Russia south to southern France, Italy, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Macedonia. It is absent from the British Isles and Scandinavia with the exception of southern Finland, and also from northwestern Germany^[3] and the Netherlands. Within Europe, the plant is grown outside of its range in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands.^[4]

Allspice

Allspice, also called Jamaica pepper, kurundu, myrtle pepper, pimenta,^[1] or newspice, is a spice that is the dried unripe fruit ("berries") of Pimenta dioica , a mid-canopy tree native to the Greater Antilles, southern Mexico and Central America, now cultivated in many warm parts of the world.^[2] The name "allspice" was coined as early as 1621 by the English, who thought it combined the flavour of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.^[3]

Solanum centrale

Kutjera, or Australian desert raisin (Solanum centrale) is a plant native to the more arid parts of Australia. Like other "bush tomatoes", it has been used as a food source by Central Australian Aboriginal groups for millennia.

Solanum centrale was first described by J. M. Black in 1934.^[1]

Like many plants of the Solanum genus, desert raisin is a small bush and has a thorny aspect. It is a fast growing shrub that fruits prolifically the year after fire or good rains. It can also grow back after being dormant as root stock for years after drought years.

Annatto

Annatto, sometimes called roucou, is a derivative of the achiote trees of tropical regions of the Americas, used to produce a yellow to orange food coloring and also as a flavoring. Its scent is described as "slightly peppery with a hint of nutmeg" and flavor as "slightly sweet and peppery".^[1]

Annatto coloring is produced from the reddish pericarp or pulp which surrounds the seed of the achiote (Bixa orellana L.). It is used in many natural cheeses (e.g., Cheddar, Red Leicester, Gouda and Brie), margarine, butter, rice, smoked fish and custard powder.

Alligator pepper

Alligator pepper (also known as mbongo spice, hepper pepper) is a North African spice which corresponds to the seeds and seed pods of Aframomum danielli, Aframomum citratum or Aframomum exscapum. It is a close relative of grains of paradise, obtained from the closely-related species, Aframomum melegueta. However, unlike grains of paradise which are generally sold as only the seeds of the plant, Alligator pepper is sold as the entire pod containing the seeds (in the same manner to another close relative, black cardamom).

Trachyspermum copticum

Trachyspermum copticum, commonly known as ajwain, ajowan caraway, carom seeds or mistakenly as bishop's weed, is a plant of India and the Near East whose seeds are used as a spice.^[1]

Characteristics

It is the small seed-like fruit similar to that of the bishop's weed (Ammi majus) plant, egg-shaped and grayish in colour. The plant has a similarity to parsley. Because of their seed-like appearance, the fruit pods are sometimes called ajwain seeds or mistakenly as Ammi majus seeds (Botanical synonyms for ajwain which are no longer accepted by ITIS are: Ammi copticum, Carum copticum, Trachyspermum ammi).