Grow your own bouquet garni

Bouquet garni is a traditional French method for using herbs in bunches to infuse a dish with flavour. The combinations help solve the problem of which herbs to grow for flavouring your cooking: simply divide your herb garden into separate areas for meat, fish and poultry, choose the right herbs from the selection in our garden centre, and you'll have a perfect selection for every dish.

Poultry dishes: lemony flavours contrast well with chicken, turkey or duck, so grow lemon thyme or lemon grass mixed with hyssop, thyme, tarragon and parsley.

Fish dishes: Aniseed-flavoured herbs produce classic fish dishes. Fennel and tarragon taste gorgeous with plaice; try lovage, dill, and bay with other fish such as bass, perch and salmon.

Meat dishes: rich meat casseroles come alive infused with flavoursome Mediterranean herbs. Oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary and bay can cope with slow cooking and taste wonderful together.

Make the bouquet garni by picking a sprig of each herb, with stalk attached, and tie together securely with string. Tie the whole bunch to the casserole handle and allow to drop into the dish during cooking. Remove just before serving.

Please ask the staff in our Basingstoke garden centre for more information and advice about herbs you can grow for cooking.