Bay Laurel
Free shipping on orders $50+
A leaf or two of Bay Laurel to a pot of beans adds that certain something that makes them go from ordinary to very special.
Our leaves come from Turkey and many smart cooks insist on the same. Sometimes we cook our beans with just Bay leaves, a pinch of salt and nothing else.
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Verified Customer Reviews
infinitely better
these Bay Leaves are just like the Rancho Gordo Beans: better in every way than what you are used to! Smell, Taste, Texture: everything is mysteriously better because of these leaves.
Review on 20/05/2019
These are not your grocery store Bay leaves...
Wow! Two leaves cooked with a pound of Santa Maria Pinquitos totally overwhelmed the beans -- to my taste, anyway. Really good stuff, but go easy to start with until you find your "sweet spot". As usual, YMMV.
Review on 27/07/2017
Redefining bay leaves
These bay leaves have incredible flavor. I used two leaves with a pound of Ayocote Blanco beans cooked in a pressure cooker. The bay leaves created a lovely background flavor to the beans. I can taste it subtly in every bean. Definitely not your average dried up, crunchy grocery store bay leaf. These have a lovely smooth flavor. Makes flavoring beans so simple and delicious. Will definitely be trying these with other RG beans. 😋😋😋
Review on 07/10/2017
And to think I was going to buy a dwarf bay laurel
Thought I would have to grow my own until I started using these Bay Leaves. They get used in any recipe where I want that lovely earthly fragrance and flavor, and yes, always with my Gordo beans. Aromatic, whole leaf, amazing. I keep them in stock between quarterly shipments. They get used in my kitchen regularly.
Review on 11/07/2021
Not worth it.
I usually get my bay leaves fresh, or from Penzeys or an Indian market. I ordered these to see if they were as good as recommended. My bag came with no whole leaves, only broken pieces. Very hard to take out of beans, soups, or stews in such small pieces. Definitely not buying again.
Review on 20/01/2023
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The Rancho Gordo Story
You Can Blame it All on the Dutch
I was shopping one August for tomatoes and, despite Napa being one of the world's most magnificent agricultural regions, all the tomatoes were from a hothouse in Holland! Worse, they were hard and pale pink instead of the ripe tomatoes I was craving. I started to grow my own tomatoes and this eventually led to beans.
My first harvested heirloom bean was Rio Zape. They were pretty and easy to grow but I had no idea what to expect when I cooked them. They were similar to the pintos I liked but there was so much more going on. Hints of chocolate and coffee mixed with an earthy texture made my head spin. I was blown away by Rio Zape and the other heirloom beans I was growing, but also really confused why they were such a big secret. I took the beans to the farmers market, organizing things on my kitchen table. Soon there was a warehouse, followed by more markets and mail order. It seems we had struck a nerve. People agreed that heirloom beans were worth saving, growing and cooking. Currently our warehouse, a retail shop, and offices are in Napa, California, and a stop here is part of many tours of the wine country.
All of my agricultural pursuits have been based on being someone who likes to cook but gets frustrated by the lack of ingredients, especially those that are native to the Americas. One of the things that originally drew me to beans was the fact that they are indigenous to the Americas. It seems to me these indigenous ingredients should be familiar, if not common. American cuisine is re-inventing itself and I'd love to include ingredients, traditions and recipes from north and south of the border as part of the equation. I love the concept of The Americas. I feel as if it's just as important as the European heritage many of us share.
You can read more about the Rancho Gordo story here.
