I have a fascination for three leaves right now: bay, curry and lime, all of which add a fragrant flavour to dishes. I haven’t managed to source fresh Thai lime leaves in South Africa (only the dried ones), except for plucking a few from my friend’s prized supply.

So I got super excited last week in Johannesburg when I found packets of them at Dunkeld Fruit and Flowers. Thai lime leaves are very distinctive in taste, and superior to normal lemon or lime leaves. They have a double leaf, and when crushed slightly the oils are citrusy and fragrant. I used some in a Thai mussel broth and their vibrancy really did lift the balance of sweet, salty and hot.

The smell of curry leaves is intoxicating, especially when sniffing into a brown paper bag filled with them from spice emporium Atlas Trading Company in Cape Town’s Bo-Kaap. Here you can stuff handfuls of curry leaves into bags from the big boxes before weighing them. My first introduction to these special tiny leaves (where big taste comes in small packages) was at curry institution Marahaja in Long Street (now in Kloofnek Road), where the lamb curry on the bone is a signature dish, and I’m sure the leaves have something to do with it. I can’t make a successful curry without them now.

Bay is a favourite, too. Not only in soups and stews, but I love adding a twig of them to poached pears or baked quince to add that earthy flavour that bay exudes – or even to sago or rice puddings. I can’t get much flavour out of the dried ones compared to the fresh; I just wish we could buy packets of them or, better still, branches!

I have planted a bay tree, but it doesn’t get a chance to grow with all the pruning it gets. It’s worth it for the flavour, though. (And thank goodness for the neighbour’s magnificent one.)

Abigail