Bouquet Garni, the perfect way to flavor meals

Preparing your own bouquet garni is something enjoyable and very simple.

A bouquet garni is an assortment of herbs and spices that every cook can customize depending on the recipe.

Whether you prefer growing the plants it is made of, or individually purchasing each spice and flavorful herb, here are the guidelines to create your own bouquet garni.

Ingredients that enter into bouquet garni

Clearly rosemary, thyme, bay laurel and parsley enter into its composition, and you can also customize your bouquet garni by growing a few additional plants like sage, savory, garlic, tarragon and stalk celery.

Here is the most common list of bouquet garni ingredients:

• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Bay laurel
• Parsley
• Leek greens

Preparing bouquet garni yourself

Once the herbs have been collected, they must be dried so that they’ll keep for many long months, even over winter.

Harvest

What is important is to collect the leaves at the right moment. When the leaves are just unfurling and opening is when they are the tastiest because they’re in full development.

Drying

Tie about ten or twelve stems into bundles, and hang them upside-down in a dry and well-ventilated spot.

If you’ve got a dehumidifier, wrap the plants in cheese cloth and hang it in the flow of dry exhaust air.

Plants are dry enough when their edges have become brittle.

Keeping and storage

You can prepare your bouquet garni directly and store them in a jar or airtight box.

Another option is to store each herb type separately, which will make the flavor of each more intense, and bind them at the last minute before cooking.

Whatever the composition of your bouquet garni, cooking-proof string such as butcher’s twine will be perfect to tie the leaves together before and after drying.

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