Topic: Spices of India Asian Bay leaves

[natterjak]

Has anyone else had trouble with tej patta (Asian bay leaves) from Spices of India? I've received two packs from them (10g size) and the leaves inside seem to have barely any fragrance at all. Nothing like the beautifully scented Asian bay I've had in the past (sourced via eBay seller thanks to help from martinvic).

I can only conclude these leaves from SOI are old stock so will contact them to discuss, but interested to hear if anyone else has found similar?

[curryhell]

Never ordered from SOI but had a similar experience with a large pack i bought from one of my local asian grocers.  I opened it up and the contents smelt nothing like the small packs of Rajah asian bay leaves i have been buying from another local store.  They went straight in the bin .  Similar experience with the cassia bark

[976bar]

I've just bought 2 packs from SOI amongst other things, but haven't had chance to use them yet... feeling dissapointed now, but will let you know what they are like once I have opened them.

[natterjak]

Perhaps you could give me a 2nd opinion 976. Maybe it's just the packets I got

[Secret Santa]

Never ordered from SOI but had a similar experience with a large pack i bought from one of my local asian grocers.  I opened it up and the contents smelt nothing like the small packs of Rajah asian bay leaves i have been buying from another local store.  They went straight in the bin .  Similar experience with the cassia bark

Strangely enough the last pack of Asian Bay leaf I bought was Rajah and they also lacked the usual flavour of good Asian Bay (and they were well inside the sell by date).

I suppose it's possible (probable?) that they all source their ingredients from the same region so there may be a bad batch in circulation.

[ELW]

I've never seen Asian bay leaves by Rajah, what colour is the packet?


ELW

[naga dave]

    Maybe this will help - the true Asian bay leaf is actually known as a cinnamon leaf but comes from the cassia tree! Recognise it by THREE veins only, rather than the usual pattern. Aroma is strong, totally different and very distinctive. Tends to vary in size but usually much larger.
                                                                                   D.

[Secret Santa]

I've never seen Asian bay leaves by Rajah, what colour is the packet?


ELW

Hmmm, that's got me thinking.

I was sure the packet was red but I looked online and it's green and they are European bay and not Asian (Tej pata). So I can only conclude that what I bought wasn't Rajah 

The observation stands though. Whatever brand they were, they were definitely Asian and they were completely devoid of the usual flavour.

[Secret Santa]

    Maybe this will help - the true Asian bay leaf is actually known as a cinnamon leaf but comes from the cassia tree! Recognise it by THREE veins only, rather than the usual pattern. Aroma is strong, totally different and very distinctive. Tends to vary in size but usually much larger.
                                                                                   D.

Indeed, the ones I bought were smaller than the quite large ones I am used to. Definitely Asian though. Perhaps we need to be more selective when buying and only go for the large ones, which I've never had any problems with.