How To Make Your Own Bouquet Garni

As cooks we are always looking for easy ways to increase the flavour and interest of our dishes. One of the secret, healthy and nutritious, ways of doing this is to use blends of herbs, spices and flavourings.

These blends of herbs and spices are known as bouquets garnis. The French term for a 'bundle of herbs.' But they are a lot more than a mere bundle of herbs.

These secret blends are the most powerful culinary weapon in the busy cook's repertoire. A weapon that will assist you in creating a nearly endless variety of nutritious gourmet meals. A weapon that will help you on your way to becoming a domestic goddess in no time at all.

It's easy to make your own bouquet garni. Let's start with the classic bouquet garni. It's a simple but flavourful "broth posy" consisting of:

• 3 stalks parsley,
• 1 sprig thyme and
• 1 bay leaf

Tie the herbs together in a little bundle with a piece of sting. Add the bouquet garni to any stew, sauce or casserole you're preparing and remove the bouquet garni before serving. You can use either fresh or dried herbs.

Other well known traditional bouquets garnis are fines herbes and herbes de Provence

Your aim in making a bouquet garni should be to produce a balanced, complex flavour that makes your diner want to take another bite, not analyze it. In other words - don't overpower your dish with the bouquet garni.

The easiest way to find more bouquet garni ideas is to copy successful recipes. How do you find the success stories? Simply by studying recipes and watching cooking programs on television.

Look for recipes that use more than three herbs, spices or flavourings. Even though the recipe, in almost all instances, won’t state that, the combination of herbs and spice they are using is a bouquet garni.

Remember. For the best results never limit yourself to only one or two herbs per dish. Rather use three or four, plus a spice or two. It's the secret to greater depth in your finished dishes.

Be patient with yourself and you will develop your own tried and tested "universal" bouquets garnis that you can use with just about everything.

I love infusing my universal bouquets garnis in vinegar and olive oil as well. That way they become truly universal, and they are popular gifts.

But don't just copy successful bouquets garnis. Take your culinary adventure one step further. Start by changing proportions, next try to add, delete or substitute the herbs in your bouquet garni. You can also try the same bouquet garni with different dishes.

Go get some compliments!

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