What is "bouquet garni"

n. A mixture of herbs or dried herbs placed in a small bag, used as a flavouring for stews, soups and sauces.

The bouquet garni ( 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 thyme and bay leaf. Depending on the recipe, the bouquet garni may also include parsley, basil, burnet, chervil, rosemary, peppercorns, savory and tarragon. Vegetables such as carrot, celery (leaves or leaf stalks), celeriac, leek, onion and parsley root are sometimes included in the bouquet. In Provence, a slice or two of dried orange peel is not uncommonly added.

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 or muslin) and butcher twine can be used, instead.

The term "faggot" was an antiquated name for the bouquet garni.

Dishes made with a bouquet garni include:

• Boeuf 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