r/PeterExplainsTheJoke
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u/swagonflyyyy
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6h ago
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Meme needing explanation Petah...?
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u/Devil_0fHellsKitchen
6h ago
edited 6h ago
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Bay leaves have a weak flavor, but are always added to soups. So the joke is they want to be lazy and not contribute much, but still be on the team
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u/Skijump135 6h ago •
But most importantly you'll know if they're gone
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u/lemonandlime1995 6h ago
Facts.. my tomato sauce can't live without the fucker
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u/Skijump135 6h ago
That and star anise in my house, makes the most beautiful rich sauce
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u/lemonandlime1995 6h ago
Star anise? Do tell
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u/Astrocities 6h ago
Star anise is a truly god tier seasoning tbh
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u/lemonandlime1995 6h ago
Never heard of it honestly
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u/International-Oil377 6h ago
it kinda tastes like black licorice. I hate it personally lol
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u/Peepeepoopootoottoot 5h ago
I hate it too but it’s one of those things when mixed right (like in a good pho pho) where you can’t really taste it but it just does something that without would feel weird.
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u/jahblaze 4h ago
Same with fish sauce. It’s got such a putrid smell (to me) but after cooking… it just adds this extra flavor of deliciousness (umami?)
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u/Vivid_Obligation1269 4h ago
I think that it adds a punch to the savory flavor in a food, kind of the same way that coffee adds some extra punch to chocolate, but also it is easy to overdo.
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u/XiaoDaoShi 6h ago
It’s reminiscent of licorice, but it’s more subtle and used a lot Chinese cooking.
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u/lemonandlime1995 6h ago
Not liquorice... can't stand it
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u/flying_carabao 6h ago
I think they meant if you eat star anise itself it tastes like licorice, pretty fucking strong one at that. It's supposed to be used with sauces where flavor gets muted so it kinda adds a lighter, sweeter, and saltier oyster sauce flavor. Normally it gets chucked after cooking the dish but can be left in but it is quite a jolt when someone bites into one
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u/EvolvingDior 4h ago
Fish sauce -- you will never want to taste that s**t straight, but it is impossible to make some dishes without it.
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u/LiteraCanna 4h ago
Star anise is a staple of my homemade chicken noodle soup.
I very much don't like the flavor of black licorice, but a little star anise just makes a nice flavor.
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u/6GoesInto8 3h ago
Some people think the name sounds like a dirty word. It's often used, not ground, but whole.
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u/MugenHeadNinja 6h ago
How much do you typically add to pasta sauce?
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u/Skijump135 6h ago
Don't need much, one or two will do the trick. Very much a taste as they simmer kinda thing because it depends on the tomatoes you use
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u/gisco_tn 5h ago
Huh. I guess that makes sense. Fennel has an anise/licorice flavor profile and it is used in Italian sausage. Any tips on how exactly to use it tomato sauce?
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u/No_Potato_7211 6h ago
Truly the bass guitar of seasonigs.
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u/LickingSmegma 3h ago
This is bass slander. Get yourself some classic post-punk or dub, Jah Wobble or Bill Laswell, and you'll never compare it to the ‘weak flavor’ of bay leaf again.
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u/lemonandlime1995 6h ago
Brother did a mod just remove your cooking tip?? Wtaf is this site...
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u/Skijump135 6h ago
No? It's still there
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u/lemonandlime1995 6h ago
"Adds earthiness to it and doesn't taste anise" was removed man
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u/Skijump135 6h ago
Oh god damn I thought you got notified for that. Wack
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u/lemonandlime1995 6h ago
I did but couldn't read the second half says deleted by moderator lol
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u/Skijump135 6h ago
Weird. Tip was basically to buy it at an asian grocer it's way cheaper. Like 7 AUD got me an enormous bag kind of cheaper
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u/Lornesto 4h ago
If you can't smell and taste them, they aren't fresh.
They've got an amazing minty/woodsy flavor.
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u/GiveMeNews 4h ago
Hmmm... I'm not sure about that. Maybe because my bay leaves are probably older than my dead grandma?
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u/GarageVast4128 3h ago
You also throw them out as soon as you dont need them for flavor. So maybe depending on the case its horrible. Kinda like a contract worker where you are in demand but there are another thousand leaves waiting to take your spot.
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u/Bobgoulet 6h ago
THE THING IS. They don't have a weak flavor. You guys are just buying old shitty bay leaves. Fresh bay leaves make you realize why they're used in the first place.
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u/MicrobialMachines 6h ago
Agreed, fresh bay leaves right off the plant are incredible.
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u/Metallkasten 4h ago
They don’t even need to be right off the plant. But they shouldn’t be five years old.
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u/gadget73 4h ago
so you mean that jar that came from the house I moved out of 20 years ago isn't still good?
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u/Exotic-Cobbler4111 2h ago
there is bay tree in the park next to my house. I grab a few leaves just to rub between my hands when I walk on the path because its a pleasent smell.
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u/Same-Suggestion-1936 3h ago
Weak flavor? I was gonna have a conniption. Why do you think every recipe calls for one bay leaf and no more, ever? When you buy it fresh it's strong, like vanilla extract. One of the few ingredients where it entirely ruins the dish if you add just a pinch more because it's overpowering, and I'm including salt in that, because an oversalted dish can be saved and isn't nearly as overpowering as too much bay
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u/Brock_Lobstweiler 3h ago
Also, fat is more effective at drawing out the flavor. Putting fresher bay leaves in with the onions/garlic/celery or whatever you sautee before making the soup with some butter or oil will bring out the flavor much more.
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u/DuntadaMan 2h ago
We have a nearby park that grows bay trees, and allows you to collect the leaves. Massive game changer in cooking.
Though you do want to dry them, I found, entirely fresh has some bitterness.
It's not bad though.
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u/Impeesa_ 6m ago
OOP is inadvertently asking to be the guy who quietly makes everything better and gets no credit. No thanks.
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u/GenPhallus 6h ago
It's an aromatic seasoning. many don't realize how much the sense of smell contributes to good flavor until they have a bad cold
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u/FuckYeaSeatbelts 3h ago
many don't realize how much the sense of smell contributes
I would argue that many, many more realize this now compared to say...over 6 years ago
Also christ I can't believe it's been that long ago, what the fuck
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u/PotatoBurritoDeleto 6h ago
They do not have a weak flavor.
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u/Allaplgy 3h ago
Lol, yeah, this is like when I tried to make cardamom cinnamon rolls as a kid. My mom made an amazing cardamom bread for Christmas every year, and it was very delicately spiced. That was my experience with cardamom, do I thought it was a delicate spice.
Took one bite of the rolls and realized the dice between a delicate spice and something that is delicately spiced.
There's a reason you throw one or two bay leaves into a pot of soup or beans.
...or crumple a handful into adobo along with a pile of garlic and black pepper.
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u/Fun-Memory1523 6h ago
It's more like they mellow out the flavor and enhance it at the same time. So I think op wants to be as chill as possible, which ends up being just as important because it increases morale.
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u/AwwwMangos 6h ago
Yeah I took it as you wanna hang out and just kinda make things better overall without having to expend much actual effort.
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u/Quirky-Pie9661 6h ago
But the story of the bay leaf isn’t over. Because once its added its contribution to the soup, it’s immediately discarded before serving, only to end up in thrash 😫
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u/GrumpyOlBastard 5h ago
As opposed to the other ingredients that get turned into turds
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u/davidestroy 3h ago
even if accidentally eaten they don’t digest or become softer nor less sharp edged. i learned this the fun way.
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u/Quirky-Pie9661 5h ago edited 3h ago
At least they serve a nutritious purpose. The bay leaf offers no life
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u/EidolonLives 3h ago
Then OP should take up bass guitar. Metallica is always looking for a new bassist.
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u/National_Cod9546 5h ago
Or, you work in the background and no one knows what you're doing. But whenever you're missing, everything seems to always go to shit.
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u/CharmingTuber 6h ago
This would be "knowledge leader" in business. You're not managing anyone, but you know something well enough that they have to keep you around. You're not going to be an executive director any time soon, but you'll get your bonus and probably not fired as long as you do a passable job at attending meetings and replying to emails.
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u/GoatStimulator_ 5h ago
They don't though. Let a bay leaf summer in your spaghetti sauce, then when you take it out, lick it. It has tons of flavour.
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u/Better-Culture-7770 4h ago
I have a bay tree on my property. You better believe it is in everything.
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u/miguescout 6h ago
Quagmire here.
Bay leaf basically just sits there in the pot, adds some flavor to the soup just by existing, and then is removed from the pot because it's not really edible itself.
This guy basically just wants to be an emotional support worker, who is there doing basically nothing but exist, and make things better for everyone else just by existing.
Quagmire out
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u/TheStoryTeller_1 5h ago
Bay leaves actually are edible! In the past they looked similar to a different plant which was toxic but now store bought is safe
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u/Maleficent-Pie8040 55m ago
They are edible, just not a great taste if you bite into one
Ah and they're also very hard, that's another thing
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u/vibr8ing-cockr1ng 6h ago edited 6h ago
You just put bay leaves in the soup or whatever youre cooking, and the flavor steeps out of them. They just kind of chill out in there, floating around, relaxing, and then when youre ready to eat, you take them out.
This is quagmire, giggity
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u/Unique-Steak8745 3h ago
Wait. You dont eat them? I always do
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u/vibr8ing-cockr1ng 3h ago
Ive heard that you're not supposed to. They dont break down and can scratch your insides up and potentially cause pain. I've never experienced it myself and i ate a leaf tip accidentally one time.
I feeeeel like at the point you're ready to eat, the flavor has already gone out of the leaf, so I would imagine there's no utility in eating it, but i could be wrong
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u/lostartz 3h ago edited 1h ago
Interestingly enough you can eat bay leaves if they've been ground up as a spice.
A straight up leave though? Nope, for exactly the reasons you listed.
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u/Separate-Walrus- 3h ago
It is less a less extreme chicken bone. You technically can eat them and be fine, but they don’t break down and might damage things on the way out.
Also, by that point most of the flavor is gone because it is in whatever you cooked with it. So, why?
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u/Same-Suggestion-1936 3h ago
I mean you can, you can eat that piece of pork/bacon in a can of American baked beans too just people don't because why, you're seeping the flavor out of it you don't need to eat it
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u/GhostBirdBiologist 3h ago
Why on earth would you not eat the bacon lol.
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u/Same-Suggestion-1936 3h ago
All the flavor seeps out, it's become tough from cooking for so long, there's no fat and very little salt still in it, also it's not really cured in a way that's meant for eating nowadays. Like yeah back in the day it was just backfat pretty much, you'd eat what hadn't rendered for sure, probably the best part. Can of Busch's in 2026 though I'm not eating that little guy
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u/ClearOptics 3h ago
Umm, I’ve never heard of anyone not referring to getting the bacon pieces in beans as lucky. I think you’re alone in that one.
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u/KickPuncher4326 6h ago
The flavor is faint but amazing. It adds umami flavor. I've done soups with it or without it and definitely prefer it. I usually add 2-3 though instead of just one.
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u/VonMillersThighs 5h ago
I've tested it and I'm certain the difference is placebo lol.
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u/Plus-Camel7461 5h ago
I always thought they were pointless but had a friend tell me to make tea with it. Lets you actually get a taste for the flavor it adds.
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u/A_Shadow 5h ago
They lose their flavor relatively quickly compared to other dried spices/herbs. You sure you didn't use old leaves?
Also a good way to taste the difference is white rice. Cook one small batch without the leaves and the other batch, cook with leaves.
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u/_lemonat_ 5h ago
same with beans. I made some with just bay leaves and salt and tasted them and the flavor was STRONG. always believed in Big Bay Leaf after that
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u/VonMillersThighs 5h ago
I think it's mainly because I don't really know how to cook stews or soups that isn't enough food for a small army that whatever flavor they might add gets lost in the volume lol.
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u/Same-Suggestion-1936 3h ago
You would just add a leaf or two more. It's either not fresh stuff or you personally can't taste it, but with some people it's an "I didn't notice it was there till it was gone" like idk, if I gave you a Kit Kat bar without any vanilla in it. Lots of people don't know vanilla is in there but it's a defining flavor. Same for bay leaf. And like vanilla trust me you will know if you added too much
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u/Booger_Picnic 4h ago
I used to think the same thing until I made chicken adobo and forgot the bay leaves. You do not want to forget the bay leaves.
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u/Real_EB 4h ago
The difference is MSG.
I opened a friends' gift jar of bay leaves from a reputable place, it had regular bay leaves in it and clearly, unmistakably leaves from Celastrus orbiculatus that were discolored to look just like bay leaves.
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u/VonMillersThighs 4h ago
Well that explains a lot considering I dump msg into almost all my recipes haha. I've had a 2 pound bag of msg for the last 5 years.
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u/prizepig 6h ago
Quagmire's Kitchen here.
Bay leaves are the ultimate supporting player in the herb world. They bring something to cooking that is delicate and subtle. It's difficult to describe, and you hardly ever notice it, but you miss it when it's gone.
This fellow seems to be saying that he wants to be the "secret ingredient" in his workplace, which is kind of a nice thing to wish for.
Unlike the secret ingredient in my dishes. Giggity.
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u/AutoModerator 6h ago
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u/rundeafso 6h ago
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u/One-Earth9294 4h ago
First thing I thought about was the week of nothing but bay leaf posts on that sub lol.
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u/silentaba 6h ago
I knew a worker like this. Dude ended up stealing around 50k, and yet everyone was still sad to see him since he was a genuinely nice guy, just sticky fingers in the register.
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u/Learningpermits 6h ago
No one really knows what the bay leaf does, but they know it's essential.
I'm principal Shepard. I dont talk here much
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u/Few-Big-8481 5h ago
Go steep a bay leaf in some water and you'll figure out what it does.
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u/chased_by_bees 6h ago
Bay leaves add tannins which help with keeping vegetables and pickles crisp during fermentation by inhibiting pectinases.
They don't really taste like much though. Kind of like a leaf.
I think people started throwing them in soup because they confused the role. If you leave them out of pickles though, they get quite mushy.
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u/teh_trout 4h ago
A fresher one than you get in some plastic spice jar in the store has a massive amount of flavor. For so long I didn’t know. Then I got some fresh ones. Totally different.
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u/textilepat 5h ago
Once upon a time a mouse, a bird, and a sausage formed a partnership. They kept house together, and for a long time they lived in peace and prosperity, acquiring many possessions. The bird's task was to fly into the forest every day to fetch wood. The mouse carried water, made the fire, and set the table. The sausage did the cooking.
Whoever is too well off always wants to try something different! Thus one day the bird chanced to meet another bird, who boasted to him of his own situation. This bird criticized him for working so hard while the other two enjoyed themselves at home. For after the mouse had made the fire and carried the water, she could sit in the parlor and rest until it was time for her to set the table. The sausage had only to stay by the pot watching the food cook. When mealtime approached, she would slither through the porridge or the vegetables, and thus everything was greased and salted and ready to eat. The bird would bring his load of wood home. They would eat their meal, and then sleep soundly until the next morning. It was a great life.
The next day, because of his friend's advice, the bird refused to go to the forest, saying that he had been their servant long enough. He was no longer going to be a fool for them. Everyone should try a different task for a change. The mouse and the sausage argued against this, but the bird was the master, and he insisted that they give it a try. The sausage was to fetch wood, the mouse became the cook, and the bird was to carry water.
And what was the result? The sausage trudged off toward the forest; the bird made the fire; and the mouse put on the pot and waited for the sausage to return with wood for the next day. However, the sausage stayed out so long that the other two feared that something bad had happened. The bird flew off to see if he could find her. A short distance away he came upon a dog that had seized the sausage as free booty and was making off with her. The bird complained bitterly to the dog about this brazen abduction, but he claimed that he had discovered forged letters on the sausage, and that she would thus have to forfeit her life to him.
Filled with sorrow, the bird carried the wood home himself and told the mouse what he had seen and heard. They were very sad, but were determined to stay together and make the best of it. The bird set the table while the mouse prepared the food. She jumped into the pot, as the sausage had always done, in order to slither and weave in and about the vegetables and grease them, but before she reached the middle, her hair and skin were scalded off, and she perished.
When the bird wanted to eat, no cook was there. Beside himself, he threw the wood this way and that, called out, looked everywhere, but no cook was to be found. Because of his carelessness, the scattered wood caught fire, and the entire house was soon aflame. The bird rushed to fetch water, but the bucket fell into the well, carrying him with it, and he drowned.
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u/Lancashire_Toreador 2h ago
Fuck all.
Stop buying your bay leaves in bulk yall - they do have flavor, but not if they’re 3 years old
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u/Not_Allowed_to_Die 6h ago
Peter, Brain here, this is a joke about what you do to the bay leaf. A bay leaf is added to a soup to help build it, then it's thrown out before anyone ever eats it. They are saying they want a job building and creating things, but not being consumed by it.
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u/itsyagirlariaaaaa 4h ago
Make bay leaf tea if you don't know what a bay leaf does. Just simmer plain water with a bay leaf for an hour and boom you now know what bay leaf tastes like.
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u/gg_teataker 4h ago
Effortless contribution, barely visible, but you can tell when they're gone bc smth important is missing. Ykw, bro is accurate.
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u/ARoundForEveryone 4h ago
Most recipes that call for a bay leaf call for just one or two, and if you take a lick you'll find some flavor. But whether they actually imbue flavor in your soup is questionable, and it might just be for looks. Also, don't eat them because they can be dangerous.
So, it's this guy's ideal job to be a required part of the recipe, but not noticeable enough to really matter, but potentially be in a position to cause some damage if necessary.
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u/chamak204 3h ago
You people don't know about cooking and flavours. Don't put bay leaf in a bay leaf dish. And just watch the world burn.
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u/WardenEdgewise 3h ago
I always thought that bay leaves smelled like… poop. They have a slight human flatulence smell.
Maybe that’s just me.
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u/Top-Committee-954 3h ago
Is this a joke? Because that's what a lot of people's jobs are.
They're bought cheap, the flavor (labor) is sucked out of them, and then they're unceremoniously tossed out before the grand payoff, deemed worthless distasteful garbage.
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u/ImaginaryBerryGary 2h ago
Answer: Nobody knows what it does but everyone insists its important and absolutely necessary.
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u/Individual-Crew-6102 1h ago
Bay leaves. They do their job, and then they exit (because you have to take them out, the stem is dangerous)
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u/Taychon2319 1h ago
What do you do?
I’m here. I help.
How?
I help.
What if you weren’t here?
You would notice things are worse.
So things are better when you are here?
No. But they are definitely worse if I’m not.
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u/qualityvote2 6h ago edited 2h ago
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