Bouquet Garni

A staple tool in French cooking, a Bouquet Garni is made of pieces of fresh herbs bundled in a piece of cloth, usually cheesecloth, though some resourceful people have used clean pantyhose. You put the herbs into the cloth, tie the cloth up into a bundle, and then toss the bundle into what you are what you are boiling or simmering (a cooking liquid is always involved.) Many times, you can get away without the cloth, and just tie the pieces of fresh herbs together.

To make one, take:

• 4 sprigs fresh parsley or chervil;
• 1 spring fresh thyme;
• 1 bay leaf

If you are using a cheesecloth, you can add: orange peel, cloves, peppercorns, marjoram, fennel leaves or celery leaves. Can you really be bothered to make a Bouquet Garni? If you can find the time to be tying up little bundles, you would have a hard time justifying to yourself continuing to ignore all the shirt buttons that need attention.

And, tossing all these herbs in together at the same time seems to be exactly the wrong way to go about it. Herbs such as parsley and chervil lose their flavour upon long cooking and need to be added towards the end, while herbs such as thyme and bay leaves release their flavouring over time and so need to be added at the beginning.

Instead, just chop up any fresh herbs (leaving bay leaves whole), or use dried herbs, and stir them in at the right stage in the cooking process for those particular herbs.Use a tea genie ball and loosely pack the herbs in there.

Also called:

Bay Leaf, Chervil, Parsley, Thyme

Bouquet Garni, Fines Herbes, Herbes de Provence, Italian Seasoning, Persillade

Angelica, Chives, Herbs, Mint, Oregano, Potherbs