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Classic Garnishes
Appears in
Published 2007
Most of us think of a garnish as the sprig of parsley or the orange wedge alongside an omelet. French-trained cooks give garnishes a more important distinction and describe them much as American cooks describe accompaniments. Stews or sautéed meats or seafood are often served with an accompanying vegetable, but when the vegetable(s) is spooned over the meat or fish along with the sauce, it is more integral to the dish and is formally called a garniture, or more colloquially, a garnish.
One of the best examples is the Burgundian garnish of sautéed mushrooms, glazed pearl onions, and strips of bacon. It is used for stew—boeuf à la bourguignonne—for coq au vin, and for any stewlike dish made with red wine. A printanier garnish (from the French printemps, or “spring”), which is baby or shaped root vegetables and green vegetables, can be used for any meat or seafood stew or braised dish. If you look at a French cookbook full of stew recipes, or full of sautéed chicken recipes, the basic recipe is the same for all of them and only the garnish changes.