How to Make a Bouquet Garni

A bouquet garni is used when you want the flavors or herbs and spices in your recipe but not the herbs and spices themselves. For instance, you don't want your dinner guest to bite into a whole peppercorn or be forced to fish a bay leaf out of the soup. These steps will help you make a bouquet garni.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Fresh Herb Garni

1. Make a fresh herb bouquet garni by gathering together 3 sprigs of parsley, 1 sprig of time and 1 bay leaf. If you want a hint of citrus, add a curl of lemon or orange peel.

2. Tie the herb sprigs together with a piece of kitchen twine. Drop the herbs in the pot and tie the other end of the twine to the pot's handle or the top of the lid.

3. Remove the garni from the pot when ready to serve the pot's ingredients. Simply untie the string from the handle and throw the garni in the trash.

Dried Herb Garni

4. Cut a square of cheesecloth or tulle and lay it out on the counter.

5. Measure out herbs and spices appropriate to the dish you're making.

6. Place the herbs and spices in the center of the square. Gather the corners together and tie with kitchen twine. This bouquet garni will be easy to find in your dish so you don't have to tie it to the pot handle or lid.

7. Use a slotted spoon or small hand-held colander to remove the dried garni from the pot, and then throw it away.

Tips & Warnings

• For poultry, combine celery, parsley, thyme, marjoram and tarragon.
• For beef, combine rosemary, thyme and parsley.
• For pork, combine sage, marjoram and thyme.
• For seafood, combine dill, tarragon and lemon zest
• For making cooking stock, combine parsley, thyme, a bay leaf and cracked peppercorns.
• You can use dental floss instead of kitchen twine, but make sure it's unwaxed.

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Resources

• The Cooking Inn is an interesting Web site that includes old recipes and techniques.