ickplantGame over
Prince Aster [He/They/Zir]Guess this person is unfamiliar with seasoning and the fact that bay leaves are used for flavor.
BarneyPiccoloI cook all the time, every day, and have never once said, “This needs a bay leaf.” I don’t even know when it’s appropriate to use it. My mom puts a bay leaf in everything - spaghetti sauce, chili, pot roast, etc. - but I’m not convinced she knows what she’s doing, she just does it.
Seriously, what’s a bay leaf for? What does it do to the flavor?
I’ve read it enhances every other flavour, kind of like salt but without making things salty
MSG only enhance umami and has a distinctly salty flavor. Try substituting a bay leaf for a fuller, richer flavor. You may want to remove the leaf before serving.
MSG isn’t just enhancing umami, it tastes umami by itself, because the umami taste is triggered receptors on the tongue that react to some amino acids, one of them being the glutamate in Mono-Sodium-Glutamate. The salty part comes from the sodium, which has its own receptors as well.
This stuff is literaly made for our taste buds.