Sachet d'espice vs. bouquet garni

Inspiring is not what you'll get from me. I've never used a "standard" sachet or bouquet. For making stock, it all gets dumped in and strained out at the end.

For making soups I may tie a bunch of herbs together and fish it out after a bit. If using whole spices I wrap it up in cheesecloth.

The obvious difference is that one is for herbs the other for spices.

In French a sachet is a small bag. In this case, the little bag would be filled with spices. Why put them in a bag? Obviously you do not want to try and fish out a few cloves or all spice bays. By putting your spices in a bag you’ll be able to easily removing them from your pot.

The same idea behind the bouquet garni, held together the herbs will be easier to fish out. Traditionally the herbs in a bouquet garni are parsley, thyme & bay leaves. But depending on what you have, one can also add savoury, sage or rosemary.

The Larousse Gastronomique does not give any historical background on the bouquet garni except to say that in ancient time the bouquet also contain cloves. Everything was wrapped in a thin slice of lard.

I agree with Isa for the sake of answering the question.

In the traditional definition of the word, a bouquet garni would contain only herbs. My assumption is that the d'espies would definitly contain spices and may also have herbs in addition.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary:

A bouquet garni: A bunch of flavouring herbs

Etymology:
1846 French Dom. Cookery 41 A garnished bouquet is when thyme, fennel, and bay are added to the parsley and onions.

1960 Woman 3 Dec. 42 Classic ingredients of a bouquet garni are half a bay leaf, three or four long-stemmed sprigs of parsley, and a sprig of thyme.

I'm fluent in French, BA UC Berkeley, 1976, and Middle and Advanced Degrees from the Sorbonne University and don't see any difference. Often I've read that the bouquet garni is placed in a sack made of cheesecloth although the exact spices may differ slightly.

Why not checkout an old tome entitled "LA CUISINE", written by Ramond Oliver who 'chefed" and operated a 3 star restaurant near the Louvre museum and fell out of favor with Parisians during the early 80's. The book may provide further information.

same thing and some more confusion

Both are the same. Herb and spiced wrapped together so they can be easily be retrieved before overpowering the dish. Satchet - in cheese cloth. Garnit in simple twine.

Pig skin(off that bacon slab) can also be used.

By the way both are also known as a "faggot".

I just copied and pasted my answer to this question from another post:


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Quote:
Originally Posted by ED BUCHANAN
Sorry , but your cooking class needs some help. In classical cooking a Bouquet Garni was herbs and or aromatics wrapped in cheesecloth and tied with string' It varied in individual recipes, but in most cases had many more then 2 things, plus peppercorns, cloves, marjoram etc. Then there was a studded onion which was a half onion with a bay leaf attached to it with a clove to hold in place mostly used for a Sauce Bechamel.
The purposeof having it on string in bag was you could take it out when flavour was enough withyout straining the whole pot of liquid. A tea strainer can also be used to put all herbs in.:bounce:

Wow, so that is what you call a bouquet garni?! Now I am just a culinary student and a chef so maybe I am just lost. However, what Ed Buchanan has descibed here is not a bouquet garni at all; what he has described is a sachet d'e'pices. A sachet d'epices is made by tying seasonings together in cheesecloth. A standard sachet consists of peppercorns, bay leaves, parsley stems, thyme, cloves and optionally, garlic. The exact quantity of these ingredients is determined by the amount of liquid the sachet is meant to flavor.
Now what a bouquet garni is; is a selection of herbs (usually fresh) and vegetables tied into a bundle with twine. A standard bouquet garni consists of parsley stems, celery, thyme, leeks and carrots.
As for his "studded onion" or what it is called a oignon pique' (also known as an onion piquet). This is a similar technique as to the garni and sachet, however it is less commonly used. In this technique, you prepare the onion by peeling it, trim off the root end and attach one or two bay leaves to the oignon pique' using whole cloves as pins.
The oignon pique' is then simmered in milk or stock to extract flavors.
I'll also give you one more you may never had heard of, an oignon brule' French for "brunt onion," is used to flavor and color stocks, sauces and soups such as consomme'. To prepare an oignon brule', peel the onion, trim off the root end and cut in half. Place the onion halves cut side down in a dry skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until the onion halves char and darken (caramelize). The oignon brule' is then simmered in stocks or soups to give them a clear Carmel color.
Now, I knew most of this but just in case I gave you the definitions as I pulled out of "ON COOKING, FOURTH EDITION," page 188. Feel free to look it up if you don't believe me. Thank-You.
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Last edited by ChefAllen; Yesterday at 10:17 PM.

The term sachet du spice is hardly ever used in a commercial kitchen even french kitchens where I have worked when I worked in France back in the Seventies .I did ask one time the difference and was told by the french cooks,""the sachet stays in the dish till the end where-as the bouquet garni could be removed at any time by the string and not straining the whole mass."" Also what you learn in schools and what is done outside is 2 different things.Sachet was however refered to in the pastry shop where vanilla pods, cinnomin stix and other sweet preps were steeped in flavored milk and syrups. Veges are part of a mirepoix not bouquet garni, and before you were born we were carmelizing or browning whole onions for color in hot oil and then adding to stock or sauce in fact I have seen it done with a brulee torch,on an onion rubbed with oil. Also books, books I still go by Guide Culinare by Escoffier which to this day is refered to as the bible of cookery ,try reading that.:look::roll:

Appoligize for what? we each are each entitled to our own theories. Your onion gimmick is another good way to do it. This being one ofthe differences between school taught and practical in the kitchen. Following the school recipe for something is great, but when you go to work one of the ingredients you need is missing. what do you substitute for it? The schools dont tell you that, experience does. Some schools put visions of sugarplums in the students heads, like when you graduate you will be sous chef at the waldorf. Or in school you are pushing out lunch for say 75 people, in the hotel you are doing it for 600 Quite a difference and totaly different way of getting it out. They both work, but each way is different. EJB