Recipe
Fasolada — Greek bean soup with bay leaf
- Herb:
- Bay laurel Laurus nobilis
- Method:
- Culinary use
- Plant part:
- Leaf
About 45 minBeginnerRecipe science profile
Procedure
- Soak 400 g of white beans overnight, drain and boil 10 minutes in fresh water; pour the water off.
- In a pot sweat 2 onions, 2 carrots and 2 celery stalks, diced, in 100 ml of olive oil.
- Add the beans, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, 400 g of chopped tomatoes, 2–3 bay leaves and 1.5 l of water; simmer 40–60 minutes until soft.
- Remove the bay leaves, season with salt and pepper, add a handful of parsley and serve with olives and bread.
Extraction
- Herb:
- 2–3 whole bay leaves per 1.5 l of bean soup
- Solvent:
- long, slow cooking in water with olive oil; leaves are removed before serving
- Shelf life:
- 3 days in the fridge
- Target compounds:
- essential oil containing 1,8-cineole, linalool and eugenol and bitter sesquiterpene lactones (costunolide) pass slowly into the broth; oil helps
Notes
Greece's national dish. The bay leaf is cooked whole and removed before serving — the tough leaf must not be swallowed, its edges can injure the gullet. No health claims beyond the traditional use per EMA HMPC.
Why it works
Bay leaf lends the dish an oil with 1,8-cineole, linalool and eugenol and bitter sesquiterpene lactones (costunolide), which the tough leaf releases slowly — hence the long cooking in oil. EMA HMPC recognises the leaf for traditional use in mild digestive complaints and bloating, matching its place in pulse dishes; the review by Alejo-Armijo et al. 2017 summarises antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects as laboratory-based.
Literature
- EMA HMPC: Lauri folium — European Union herbal monograph — Traditional use for mild digestive complaints and bloating.
- Alejo-Armijo A, Altarejos J, Salido S (2017): Phytochemicals and Biological Activities of Laurel Tree (Laurus nobilis). Natural Product Communications 12(5):743–757 — Review of leaf and fruit composition and preclinical data.
Related
Bay laurel — Herb card
Culinary use — Processing method detail