Cooking 101: Sachet d’Épices and Bouquet Garni

October 24, 2008

This post is part of a series called Cooking 101, which introduces the basics of cooking. The series follows the book Culinary Fundamentals, with supplements from The Professional Chef by the Culinary Institute of America. Check out the previous posts here.

Unit 13: Basic Mise en Place

Part 3: Sachet d’Épices and Bouquet Garni

You won’t find the terms mirepoix, sachet d’epices, or bouquet garni in most modern cookbooks. These are French terms used more often in high end restaurants. The same ingredients are probably in your recipes, but they’re lumped in with the rest of the ingredients. But if you won’t find them in your recipes, why am I writing about them? It’s because these principles are part of the foundation of cooking. It doesn’t matter what recipe you’re following or what ethnic style you prefer – these principles hold true for all of them. The theory behind them and adaptability they allow will (hopefully) further expand my ability to cook from basic knowledge instead of recipes. Note: I’ll cover mirepoix tomorrow.

What They Are:

The sachet d’épices and bouquet garni are aromatic flavoring combinations of herbs, spices, and vegetables used to flavor stocks, soups and sauces. The standard sachet d’épices has 3-4 parsley stems, a dried bay leaf, a sprig of thyme, and one teaspoon of cracked peppercorns. The standard bouquet garni is a sprig of thyme, 3-4 parsley stems, a dried bay leaf, and 2-3 leek leaves and/or 1 celery stalk cut in half. The goal of these is to infuse their flavor aroma into the liquid. The final product doesn’t end up tasting like the sachet d’épices or bouquet garni, but a depth of flavor is added.

How to Use Them:

Bouquet Garni (enough for 1 gallon of liquid): 1 sprig thyme, 3-4 parsley stems, 1 bay leaf, 2-3 leek leaves or 1 celery stalk, cut in half

For a bouquet garni, you’ll use the leek leaves as the covering, wrapping the thyme, parsley stems, and bay leaf inside, and tying off the bundle with a piece of string. It is probably a good idea to leave a long end of string attached so the bouquet can be pulled from the stock/soup/sauce when enough flavor has been infused. One bouquet can flavor a gallon of liquid.

Sachet d’Épices (enough for 1 gallon of liquid): 3-4 parsley stems, 1 sprig thyme, 1 bay leaf, 1 tsp. cracked peppercorns

For a sachet d’épices, you’ll need a piece of cheesecloth to wrap the ingredients and again a piece of string to tie the cheesecloth into a small bundle. An extra length of string to remove the sachet is also recommended. If the final product will be strained, you can use a “loose” sachet and simply add the ingredients individually to the liquid.

These aromatic combinations should be added to your stock/soup/sauce in the last fifteen to thirty minutes, assuming you have a gallon or less or liquid. You can add it up to an hour before the dish is finished if you have multiple gallons.

How to Modify Them:

The sachet d’épices especially is open to modification. Frequently a clove of garlic is added. Other additions can include a couple slices of carrot, or spices such as cardamom, ginger, or cinnamon. As you might expect, the last three spices will have a more dramatic effect on the finished product.

My Take:

I used a loose sachet d’épices when making chicken stock for the first time a couple weeks ago. As the book recommended, I tasted the stock before adding the sachet and also about fifteen minutes after adding it. It is difficult to describe the effect, as I could easily taste a difference, but it didn’t necessarily change the flavor. Overall it seemed to balance the chicken stock, or round it out, if that makes any sense.

Posted in Cooking 101, Techniques |