DID YOU KNOW: THE LAUREL TREE

 

    

Image generated by : Gencraft

 

Being a Mediterranean gourmet, I have to confess that cooking holds a supreme place in my daily life.  Every dish tells a story and witnesses a part of my existence. Every meal is an identity, a set of emotions, where colors collide and smells intertwine. Happy or sad, calm or agitated, celebrating or grieving, cooking is always my solace. 

Like a chef, I prepare my tools carefully before setting free my imagination, always looking for the perfect match, the unusual flavor, and the surprising combination. But through this creative process, some things never change, like my obsessive use of “bay leaves” always drawn and captivated by their aromatic flavor and astonishing fragrance. 

An addiction that I have accepted to live with, but have I ever known that the bay laurel tree would invade my writings while retelling one of the Greek stories? 

Not until now.

Throughout the ages, the laurel tree held a significant symbolism in many cultures, and Greeks often associated this tree with the god Apollo in the myth of Daphne. The story begins when Apollo the son of Zeus and Leto, mocked Eros’s archery skills, believing that bows and arrows were not to be used by the god of love to play with and prank gods and humans, such weapons were only fit for a real archer like the god of archery, Apollo himself. Offended by Apollo’s statement, Eros decided to seek vengeance of his own and teach Apollo a lesson of the heart using none other than his bow and arrows, showing his true power.

The mischievous god of love and desire chose two arrows, one made of gold and the other made of lead. The first golden arrow was destined for Apollo to bewitch his heart and consume it with love, while the other arrow will inspire opposite feelings in the heart of Apollo’s chosen one.

Once the golden arrow shot Apollo, he madly fell in love with a nymph called Daphne, who at the same time was shot with the other lead arrow, causing her to repulse her admirer and flee his advances.

Time wore on, and Apollo’s fever never diminished, his unyielding desire for the nymph never changed, always chasing her wherever she went. Some say, that one day Apollo’s loving quest was about to succeed, when finally, he captured the nymph, while approaching her, Daphne beseeched her father Peneus, one of the river gods, or Gaia to transform her into a tree so that Apollo may never touch her and chase her again.

In other versions of the story, Daphne’s transformation occurred after that she got tired of running away and wished for a peaceful alternative. In both versions, Daphne’s prayer was immediately granted, as she was turned into a laurel tree.

Losing his beloved, Apollo mourned his lost love, and in grief, he embraced the laurel tree, making it from that moment on, his sacred tree. In Daphne’s memory, Apollo used the laurel leaves to create a wreath, a head ornament used in ancient Greece as a symbol of victory, honor, and great achievements.

A beautiful gift awarded to victors in athletic competitions, including the ancient Olympic Games. Even today when leaf crowns are not used anymore, a word is unconsciously used, "laureate", referring to someone who has been honored, rewarded, and crowned with a laurel wreath.

Like Apollo, god of the sun, music, prophecy, and healing, who venerated the laurel tree, humans valued it too, and through generations used the laurel leaves for many purposes. Besides cooking and healing, some consider its benefits as purely magical, to be used for protection spells, and divination practices, along with wish magic and purification and cleansing rituals.

And once again, like many times before, I can’t help but smile at the beauty and creativity behind the Greek's imagination, pondering how many other stories lie concealed behind usual, ordinary, daily practices, like tossing dried bay leaves into a broth.

So before doing so next time, I’ll remember when adding bay leaves to my preparation, that those seemingly insignificant leaves inspired a whole civilization, to be honorable, strong, and victorious, to celebrate every moment of this life believing that transformation may be a great way to triumph by surrendering to none but your will and sacrifice what is most precious, just like a bay leaf that imparts its essence to make your dish just perfect.

And always remember that the myth of Apollo, Daphne, and Eros, is also about sweet revenge, urging us to never underestimate others, no matter how great we think we are, as a Moroccan proverb wisely goes :  “The branch that you underestimate is the one that will poke you in the eye”.

Meryem !