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Bouquet Garni

A bundle of herbs used as a flavoring base.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Bouquet Garni

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash and dry the parsley, chives, and celery.

  2. Cut the celery into pieces about the size of the parsley.

Assemble

  1. Gather all the herbs into a bunch and tie them together with a piece of string.

  2. Feel free to include other aromatic herbs, but avoid excessive use of strong-smelling ones.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Marjoram + basiltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together688 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  3. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Parsley + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Thyme + basiltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,768 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Parsley
Adds fresh, green aroma that rounds out the herb blend.
Thyme
Contributes earthy, aromatic flavour that perfumes the stock or dish.
Bay leaf
Adds a subtle, savoury aroma that deepens the flavour of the liquid it cooks in.

The step that matters

Avoid excessive strong-smelling herbs. Strongly scented herbs can dominate the blend and overpower the dish. Using a restrained amount keeps the aroma balanced, so the bouquet supports rather than masks the other flavours.

Swap the clove

The recipe marks clove as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (parsley, thyme, marjoram, basil, chive, celery, garlic):

  1. Winter savoryfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Oreganofits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against parsley, thyme, marjoram, basil, chive, celery, garlic. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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