A bouquet garni is a bundle of herbs usually tied together with string used to add flavour to soups, stocks, and stews. It is cooked with the other ingredients but is removed before the dish is eaten. There is no standard recipe for bouquet garni, but most French recipes include a Bay leaf, a few sprigs of Thyme and some Parsley or Parsley stems. Depending on the dish other herbs such as Rosemary, Tarragon and Chervil may be added as well as peppercorns.
In Provence, a couple of slices of dried orange peel may be added.
Sometimes chefs will bind the ingredients in tied leek leaves or a stick of celery if the recipe is for a large amount the herbs can be tied in cheesecloth or muslin fastened with butchers string. You can also buy sachets of bouquet garni which look very similar to T-bags.
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