I once bought a bag of giant bay leaves like that from a Lebanese shop, they looked good but were sh!t. I remember watching a show with Anthony Bourdain (entertaining whatever you think of him) in Spain with some campaneros hiking through some hills or other. When they stopped for lunch, which may have involved killing a goat or something, step one was to heat oil in a cast iron skillet over the fire, and drop in a handful of those huge bay leaves before anything else. The result looked wonderful, but then red meat fried in olive oil and simmered with onions, wine, and herbs always looks divine. (Literally, food of the gods in most places)
Cal I don't follow. "Sweeten up", do you mean the berries were hard/sour when picked and you let them ripen off the bush?
No, just the berries on the vine. As you probably know, they turn black before they sweeten. I don't pick any early. If they don't release from the ovary easily I move on knowing it'll be ready in a day or two. Because we really don't use them fresh other than while we pick, the weight of the berries themselves begin the juicing process before we get home. Zip-lock bags are our friend. Same with Polysporin and Band-Aids. 
Maybe my post suggested that size is of relevance, but I meant to get across that flavour/fragrance of herbs has everything to do with origins.
As wine and terroir, soil is likely of vital importance for the quality of herbs, in this case bay leaves.
The ones I use are not supermarket items, but sold by the piece/weight. I've sampled bay leaves in/of various regions, but the item from Spain is in a class of its own, imo. For bay leaves, not even the Provence can compete.
For herbs as lavender, marjoran, rosemary and thyme, absolutely nothing compares to the Provence. Single way to obtain Herbes de Provence is a visit to the region and track a vendor of the real thing.
(or harvest them yourself, all grow abundantly in the wild there, an afternoon of herb hunting saves hundreds of dollars)
For these types of herbs, fresh ones from a shop are no match to dried originals from the Provence.
Reminds me, for those into smooth sauces : get yourself a space-age whisker.
Weight of a feather, doesn't scratch the insides of pots/pans, plus the performance of a whisker on steroids without breaking a sweat.
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My family went on a trip to california in 1976. My uncle (near sacramento) had a huge bay laurel shrub and we picked some (1/3-1/2 Liter) leaves. 40 years later, my sister and her husband still prefer them to store bought and are using up the last few.
I bought a few leaves from the store for a stew recipe once and they literally added nothing, they smell like almost nothing, even when broken/rubbed.
Like the whisk. You can keep all of your lavender to yourself. Blecht. I don't like my food tasting like soap. (I don't get that reaction from coriander/cilantro like some folks)
I definitely steal bay leaves from my mom's plant whenever I go home. Rosemary is ubiquitous around here, but I rarely use it--too strong. Need to start growing other herbs--just been too lazy to get the seeds (everything grows here).
Rosemary goes into a mortar before hitting a dish on this end.
A mortar still is standard gear for Asian cuisine, the one I use I received as a gift from my brother in law's mom when I went to university first round.
Much easier to dosage the flavor, plus I really really loathe picking needles from my teeth.
The sota whisk is very easy to clean, not always the case with a classic.
(alternative is to beat cream with a cat)
All y'all should really visit Spain, can't think of a nation more diversified and many-sided. For a veritable food aficionado, The place to pilgrimage imo.
I'm curious, any reference for that whisker? With such a shape, I guess it only works to mix ingredients, not blend air in ?
Fun in the kitchen with new toys.
Last night I took the pork roast out of the fridge to bring it to room temperature. Early this morning I stuck the probe in it and set the oven to start at 8:45 am. When it reached the internal temperature of 140F about 10:30am, it shut off the oven at but kept the convection fan going to cool it. I now have perfectly cooked pork roast and not once did I touch it. Final internal temp 148F.
Last night I took the pork roast out of the fridge to bring it to room temperature. Early this morning I stuck the probe in it and set the oven to start at 8:45 am. When it reached the internal temperature of 140F about 10:30am, it shut off the oven at but kept the convection fan going to cool it. I now have perfectly cooked pork roast and not once did I touch it. Final internal temp 148F.
Depends, works beautifully for zabaglione if spinned fast between two hands (also how I've handled traditional whisks in the past)
Not recommendable for whipping cream, but who does that by hand nowadays.
For mixing/blending creme fraiche into a sauce, the computer-age whisk is like a magic wand (Hitachi or Harry Potter)
The diversity is amazing but like everywhere one must use caution, Had some 48 month old Jambon Iberico, very special, but the tapas in San Sebastian were a total crap shoot. As SY would say, seafood with industrial puss is not great cuisine. OTOH Arzak and his daughter made for a wonderful afternoon.
I sent my kids to Etxebarri and they thought it sucked, such as it is for us ugly Americans.
I do when possible, artisanal heavy cream and a cold bowl and it takes only a minute. A traditional balloon whisk and copper bowl for egg whites here, they mound in seconds. OTOH that whisk looks neat and I like that it does not make metal on metal contact.
With a round bowl in a 45 degree angle, all I need for a limited quantity is two forks held Jappy style, but who cares.
Oddly if you google 'space age whisk' you get Whisked off rocket whisk | Natural History Museum Online Shop which looks more fun, less good and a biatch to clean. In terms of new toys I am about to inherit my Mum's Kenwood chef as she can't pick it up to move it any more. This one is older than me and from the days where they cost the thick end of a months salary and were built to last.