Bouquet garni

Bouquet garni of thyme, bay leaves, and sage, tied with a string.

The bouquet garni [bukɛ ɡaʁni] (French for "garnished bouquet") is a bundle of herbs usually tied together with string and mainly used to prepare soup, stock, and various stews. The bouquet is cooked with the other ingredients, but is removed prior to consumption.

There is no generic recipe for bouquet garni, but most recipes include parsley, thyme and bay leaf. Depending on the recipe, the bouquet garni may also include basil, burnet, chervil, rosemary, peppercorns, savory and tarragon. Vegetables such as carrot, celery (leaves or stem), celeriac, leek, onion and parsley root are sometimes included in the bouquet.

Sometimes, the bouquet is not bound with string, and its ingredients are filled into a small sachet, a net, or even a tea strainer instead. Traditionally, the aromatics are bound within leek leaves, though a coffee filter (or cheesecloth) and butcher twine can be used instead.

In Devon, thyme is often not used in the recipe.

Dishes made with a bouquet garni include:

• Beef bourguignon
• Pot au feu
• Brown Windsor soup
• Poule au pot
• Carbonnade flamande
• Lapin chasseur
• Blanquette de veau
• Ossobuco
• Bouillabaisse
• Court-bouillon
• French onion soup
• Cassoulet

References

Bibliography

• The New Larousse Gastronomique, Crown Publishers, Inc., NY, NY ISBN 0-517-53137-2, p. 141