# There's a LEAF in my food! =8^O **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 24, 2018, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475 "2018-02-24T17:24:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475/41 "2018-02-26T01:02:27Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yes, those are fairly similar. Learn something new every day. Thanks. Sure thing. And to be clear, this isn’t intended as some kind of gotcha example. As a native Northern Californian, this is more or less what I think of if someone brings up an oak leaf (including the spiky-rimmed variant). Obviously I’ve seen the “other” kind with the more irregular outline, but around here the small oval leaves are the normal ones. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475/42 "2018-02-26T01:10:46Z")
I’d expect most people to recognize basil, bay leaves, lettuce and oak leaves — but oak trees are common in Canada. Bay leaves, like cardamom pods - should be removed, but no great harm if they are eaten. None of the emergency medicine textbooks have a bay leaf section. I choose spinach over iceberg lettuce if at a good sandwich place. And my favourite salads are made with a mix of baby spinach and other greens. But iceberg lettuce is fine, and good for many things. I can live without really bitter greens and radicchio no matter how trendy it was twenty years ago. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475/43 "2018-02-26T01:26:42Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > To be fair, there are like 120 kinds of basil, with leaves of all shapes and sizes. I’ll bet you could find one that 90% of people wouldn’t recognize by sight. Out of curiosity, how many varieties look like bay leaves, oak leaves, or tree stems? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475/44 "2018-02-26T01:38:45Z")
There are a large number of people incapable of functioning in the wild. Bay leaves could cause choking which would lead to emotional damage of biblical proportions. Won’t someone please think of the incompetent? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475/45 "2018-02-26T01:43:00Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > At a college banquet one evening many years ago, one of the new hires in the Math department sitting next to me was puzzled by the ingredients in his salad. I knew all the material in it and grew some types in my own home garden. The big puzzlers were the different types of leaf lettuce. He apparently thought all lettuce was the iceberg type\*. He kept checking to see if the rest of us were really eating those odd leaves. > > How could a grown up, educated person not know about _real_ lettuce? > > - I have not eaten iceberg lettuce at home in a very, very long time. In the mid 1980s, my brother and sister both worked at an independent movie theater that put real butter on their popcorn, not the butter-flavored oil that was used in most theaters even then, and almost every night, they’d have several people bring their popcorn back and say, “What’s this stuff all over my popcorn?” :smack: Bay leaves are removed before serving because the midrib may not always digest, and there have been a few cases of intestinal perforation from them. Ground bay leaf would be OK to eat, because it’s been powdered. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475/46 "2018-02-26T02:54:41Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Be surprised. I’m strictly a fast-food restaurant drive-thru-window, 2 or 3 buck meal type. Even Chipotle is too swanky and expensive for my tastes. You’ve never eaten a a real restaurant? Had Navy bean soup, or seafood? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475/47 "2018-02-26T03:09:49Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > My mom used a bay leaf in her spaghetti sauce and pot roasts. > > I knew what they were by age 4. It was up to us to remove it from our plates. > > She certainly wasn’t going to waste time searching for it. This. Are Young People Today™ unaware of the hallowed custom of “The one who finds the bay leaf gets to kiss the cook”? 😕 I knew how to recognize the bay leaf even back when Mom or Grandma had to lean her cheek down to my high chair for me to collect my prize. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475/48 "2018-02-26T03:10:55Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > And [Mike Adams](https://respectfulinsolence.com/2013/09/03/mike-adams-puts-chicken-mcnuggets-under-the-microscope-hilarity-ensues/) is [one of the dipshittiest of dipshits](https://respectfulinsolence.com/tag/mike-adams/). His article about the “actual female zombie” attacking a McDonald’s [is still up on his website](https://www.naturalnews.com/041882_zombie_attack_Chicken_McNuggets_caught_on_video.html). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475/49 "2018-02-26T03:28:58Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > You’ve never eaten a a real restaurant? No. > [@](#): > > Had Navy bean soup No. > [@](#): > > or seafood? Sure. From McDonalds, Burger King, and Long John Silvers. Microwaved frozen fish at home. Really, for me food is something I eat with one hand while holding a book or mouse with the other. I buy cheap stuff, finish it quickly, and don’t think about it much before or after. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475/50 "2018-02-26T04:22:45Z")
I doubt there have been many cases of intestinal perforation from bay leaves. Our distant ancestors likely ate worse. Sure, it may not get digested. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475/51 "2018-02-26T05:28:29Z")
For the love of Og, can we all just concede that swallowing a tough, woody, bay leaf is a bad idea, and get on with the interesting part of the conversation?!? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475/52 "2018-02-26T05:54:22Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > I doubt there have been many cases of intestinal perforation from bay leaves. Our distant ancestors likely ate worse. Sure, it may not get digested. It’s uncommon, but it’s happened. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475/53 "2018-02-26T06:01:47Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > No. > > No. > > Sure. From McDonalds, Burger King, and Long John Silvers. Microwaved frozen fish at home. > > Really, for me food is something I eat with one hand while holding a book or mouse with the other. I buy cheap stuff, finish it quickly, and don’t think about it much before or after. Man, I thought MY existence was pointless. A good meal is one of the few things I thoroughly enjoy in life. YMM obviously V. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475/54 "2018-02-26T06:25:33Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Celery is lousy on a taco. Or a burger. So is iceburg lettuce. Here’s a food hack. Use the soft green type of lettuce on a taco. Put it in between the shell and the meat. It stops the shell from going soggy. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475/55 "2018-02-26T07:01:39Z")
Well, as interesting as unrecognized bay leaves in Chipotle bowls can get. Guess people don’t cook anymore. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475/56 "2018-02-26T07:27:09Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > All it’s got going for it is texture, and celery does that better. You don’t say it specifically, but are you claiming that celery is flavorless to you? Because it sure isn’t for me. It has a more “raw,” grassier version of the flavor you get when you cook it. It’s also quite stringy and annoying to chew. I can’t recall ever seeing more than a few tiny pieces in a salad, and most places I know that sell salads don’t include them. Definitely not enough to replace any kind of lettuce. I also don’t think the texture is similar. Iceberg lettuce is either thicker, when you get it in clumps, or much thinner when you get it in cuttings. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475/57 "2018-02-26T07:51:15Z")
As for the bay leaves: I suspect knowledge of what they look like is regional. They just do not feature in my cooking at all, nor the cooking of my family. We finally picked up some dried ones in a bottle recently, but they don’t look that much like the leaves in these pictures, being narrower and completely dried out. Oh, and all green and whole, not like they’ve been picked from a plant behind the restaurant. Sure, I’ve had stuff that was flavored with bay leaves, but the leaves were always removed before serving. So cooking with them would be the only way I would be familiar with what they looked like. And I’ve literally never made a dish with bay leaves. I suspect that a lot of these people don’t even cook for themselves–if you have the money, it seems a nice option for all but those who love to cook. In short, it doesn’t surprise me at all that these people weren’t familiar with it. I didn’t realize it at first, and wouldn’t had I not been primed to think there was something weird. “Oh, those are probably what bay leaves look like.” That said, I would probably try to google before saying anything on social media, because I’m fully aware there are tons of foods I am not familiar with. Still, I might also be the type who would try to eat it, not realizing I shouldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475/58 "2018-02-26T12:18:46Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **BigT** : > > You don’t say it specifically, but are you claiming that celery is flavorless to you? No, the flavor of celery is quite subtle (when raw), but it’s definitely there. In other words, celery has a little more flavor than iceberg, and a lot more texture. And no, there’s usually not as much of it in a salad, but there’s no reason there couldn’t be. If you even want crunchy salad: I’d rather use spinach or the like for the base, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475/59 "2018-02-26T13:44:09Z")
I asked Mrs. J. to stop putting bay leaves in the spaghetti sauce. Any added flavor is undetectable, and it looks like a foreign body in there. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475/60 "2018-02-26T14:00:24Z")
Scene: FCI Training Center, charity Spaghetti Dinner, 1970 Mr. Seavers scooping Spaghetti Sauce onto my plate of noodles, “Hey, you go the Bay Leaf. Better eat that. It’ll make your pecker hard.” So, there is that… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-leaf-in-my-food-8-o/809475.md?page=4)