The bouquet garni is a bundle of herbs usually tied together with string and mainly used to prepare soup

Soup

Soup is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth.Traditionally,...

, stock

Stock (food)

Stock is a flavoured water preparation. It forms the basis of many dishes, particularly soups and sauces.- Preparation :Stock is made by simmering various ingredients in water, including some or all of the following...

, and various stew

Stew

A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables , meat, especially tougher meats suitable for slow-cooking, such as beef. Poultry, sausages, and seafood are also used...

s. The bouquet is cooked with the other ingredients, but is removed prior to consumption.

There is no generic recipe for bouquet garni, but most recipes include parsley

Parsley

Parsley is a species of Petroselinum in the family Apiaceae, native to the central Mediterranean region , naturalized elsewhere in Europe, and widely cultivated as an herb, a spice and a vegetable.- Description :Garden parsley is a bright green hairless biennial herbaceous plant in temperate...

, thyme

Thyme

Thyme is a culinary and medicinal herb of the genus Thymus.-History:Ancient Egyptians used thyme for embalming. The ancient Greeks used it in their baths and burnt it as incense in their temples, believing it was a source of courage...

 and bay leaf

Bay leaf

Bay leaf refers to the aromatic leaf of the bay laurel . Fresh or dried bay leaves are used in cooking for their distinctive flavor and fragrance. The leaves are often used to flavor soups, stews, braises and pâtés in Mediterranean cuisine...

. Depending on the recipe, the bouquet garni may also include basil

Basil

Basil, or Sweet Basil, is a common name for the culinary herb Ocimum basilicum , of the family Lamiaceae , sometimes known as Saint Joseph's Wort in some English-speaking countries....

, burnet

Sanguisorba

Sanguisorba is a genus of perennial herbs or small shrubs in the family Rosaceae, native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The common name is Burnet. The stems grow to 50-200 cm tall, with a cluster of basal leaves, and further leaves arranged alternately up the stem...

, chervil

Chervil

Chervil is a delicate annual herb related to parsley. Sometimes called garden chervil, it is used to season mild-flavoured dishes and is a constituent of the French herb mixture fines herbes.-Biology:...

, rosemary

Rosemary

Rosemary, , is a woody, perennial herb with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple or blue flowers, native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae, which includes many other herbs, and is one of two species in the genus Rosmarinus...

, peppercorns, savory

Savory (herb)

Satureja is a genus of aromatic plants of the family Lamiaceae, related to rosemary and thyme. There are about 30 species called savories, of which Summer savory and Winter savory are the most important in cultivation.-Description:...

 and tarragon

Tarragon

Tarragon or dragon's-wort is a perennial herb in the family Asteraceae related to wormwood. Corresponding to its species name, a common term for the plant is "dragon herb". It is native to a wide area of the Northern Hemisphere from easternmost Europe across central and eastern Asia to India,...

. Vegetables such as carrot

Carrot

The carrot is a root vegetable, usually orange in colour, though purple, red, white, and yellow varieties exist. It has a crisp texture when fresh...

, celery (leaves or stem)

Celery

Apium graveolens is a plant species in the family Apiaceae commonly known as celery or celeriac , depending on whether the petioles or roots are eaten: celery refers to the former and celeriac to the latter. Apium graveolens grows to 1 m tall...

, celeriac

Celeriac

Celeriac is also known as celery root, turnip-rooted celery or knob celery. It is a kind of celery, grown as a root vegetable primarily for its large and bulbous hypocotyl rather than for its stem and leaves. The swollen hypocotyl is typically used when it is about 10–12 cm in...

, leek, onion

Onion

The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...

 and parsley root

Parsley

Parsley is a species of Petroselinum in the family Apiaceae, native to the central Mediterranean region , naturalized elsewhere in Europe, and widely cultivated as an herb, a spice and a vegetable.- Description :Garden parsley is a bright green hairless biennial herbaceous plant in temperate...

 are sometimes included in the bouquet.

Sometimes, the bouquet is not bound with string, and its ingredients are filled into a small sachet

Sachet (scented bag)

A sachet is a small cloth scented bag filled with herbs, potpourri, or aromatic ingredients.It is also defined as a small soft bag containing perfumed or sweet-smelling items also referred to as an ascent bag, scent bag, sweet bag, sachet bag, sachet de senteurs, spiced sachet, potpourri sachet,...

, a net, or even a tea strainer

Tea strainer

A tea strainer is a type of strainer that is placed over or in a teacup to catch tea leaves.When tea is brewed in the traditional manner in a teapot, the tea leaves are not contained in teabags, but rather are freely suspended in the water. As the leaves themselves may be distasteful, it is usual...

 instead. Traditionally, the aromatics are bound within leek leaves, though a coffee filter

Coffee filter

A coffee filter is a coffee-brewing utensil, usually made of disposable paper. A stainless steel filter is used to prepare Indian filter coffee, the form of coffee common in India....

 (or cheesecloth) and butcher twine can be used instead.

Dishes made with a bouquet garni include:

• Beef bourguignon
  Beef Bourguignon
  Beef bourguignon or bœuf bourguignon , also called beef Burgundy, and Boeuf à la Bourguignonne, is a well known traditional French recipe....
  
  
• Pot au feu
• Brown Windsor soup
  Brown Windsor soup
  Brown Windsor soup is a hearty British soup that was popular during the Victorian and Edwardian eras.The soup generally contains lamb or beef steak, parsnips, carrots, leeks, bouquet garni and Madeira wine...
  
  
• Poule au pot
• Carbonnade flamande
• Lapin chasseur
• Blanquette de veau
  Blanquette de veau
  Blanquette de veau is a French veal ragout in which neither the veal nor the butter is browned in the cooking process. To refrain from browning meat and fat in this way is to cook them en blanquette....
  
  
• Ossobuco
• Bouillabaisse
  Bouillabaisse
  Bouillabaisse is a seafood soup made with various kinds of cooked fish and shellfish and vegetables, flavored with a variety of herbs and spices such as garlic, orange peel, basil, bay leaf, fennel and saffron. Bouillabaisse is a traditional Provençal fish stew originating from the port city of...
  
  
• Court-bouillon