>>21424446
If that's what thebay leaf you put in your soup looked like then of course it's not going to taste like anything. Most recipes that called for it only used one or two leaves because it's quite a pungent herb, but they were also assuming it fresh or nearly fresh. The flavourful compounds are quite volatile though, so if it's been dried out first, then sat on a shelf in some store in a plastic bag for god knows how long and then left in your cupboard you could probably dump the whole thing in and it wouldn't come close to a single fresh leaf.