bouquet garni a French term which came into the English language in the mid-19th century, means the little bundle of herbs which is cooked with various dishes to impart flavour to them. This little bundle began to figure in French cookery in the 17th century, as part of the move away from highly spiced medieval dishes to the more subtle (and less expensive) flavours which herbs could provide. However, even in 1656 Pierre de Lune thought it necessary to explain to his readers what a bouquet garni was (according to him, a strip of bacon, chives, thyme, cloves, chervil, parsley).
