Faggots (Bouquets Garnis)

Bouquets garnis, bound aromatic bundles traditionally called faggots in English, teach a small rule with a long reach: perfume the cooking liquid, then leave it clean. The one true thing to know before touching a pot is that loose herbs are not the same preparation. Tie them firmly enough to survive a long simmer, because retrieval is the technique.

The source formula makes a full ounce of aromatics in an exact 8:1:1 proportion, parsley stalks and roots first, with bay and thyme in supporting roles. That suited a professional stockpot and the hand preparing bundle after bundle. Your saucepan needs less, so I keep the original ounce and its proportions intact, then divide it into six home-sized bouquets garnis. Repeated weighing before every pot is brigade scaffolding and can go; orderly alignment and proper stringing are the preparation itself and must stay. One cook, one stove, one evening, though the stove gets this quarter hour off.

When the bundles are right, the thyme and bay sit protected inside the parsley stalks, every end is even, and the knot holds when tugged. The step that matters most is the last turn of the string: wrap twice, tie firmly, and leave nothing free to stray into the pot.