Garnish (cooking)

A gyro sandwich garnished with mint leaves

A garnish is an edible item or substance used as a decoration or embellishment for a prepared food dish or drink. Some garnishes are mainly for appearance, while others impart additional or contrasting flavors or textures, and may also serve cultural or symbolic functions. The notion of a garnish is distinct from that of a condiment, a prepared sauce added to another food item primarily for its flavor, but which does not serve a decorative function. A food item which is served with garnish may be described as being garni, French for "garnished."

Overview

The English word garnish derives from the French garnir, meaning "to furnish". Within French cuisine, a garnish can be quite substantial, often referring to side dishes, such as cooked vegetables or a ragout intended to complement the main dish. French garnishes might derive their names from historical figures, famous chefs, or the region from which they originate. For example, garnish Rossini, consisting of pan-fried foie gras topped with sliced black truffle, is named after the Romantic composer Gioacchino Rossini. He is rumoured to have ordered it as a topping for filet mignon, and once described the truffle as "the Mozart of mushrooms".

Typically, a garnish is used to make food or drink items more visually appealing. It may, for example, enhance its color, such as when paprika is sprinkled on a salmon salad. It may provide a color contrast, for example when chives are sprinkled on potatoes.

A dish of sashimi, garnished with both edible shiso leaves, grated daikon, and flowers, and inedible bamboo leaves. Garnishes associated with sashimi are referred to as tsuma.

A garnish may be so identified with a dish that the dish appears incomplete without it. Examples include a banana split sundae with cherries on top or buffalo wings served with celery stick garnish and blue cheese dressing.[citation needed]

While many Western sources, including the Oxford English Dictionary, specify a garnish as a food item, the word may also be used to describe inedible decorations in some contexts. Within Japanese Cuisine, for example, inedible leaf garnishes play an important artistic and symbolic role in the presentation of foods.

The precise use of garnishes is a plating technique associated with fine dining, where increased significance is placed on the presentation of foods. While the skilful and creative use of garnish is regarded as an important aspect of professional technique for contemporary chefs, some commentators see this emphasis as over-complicating dishes. In 2012 British food critic Jay Rayner declared a 'war on garnish', making a distinction between seasonings added to enhance the flavour of a dish, and what he terms "tweezer food". In the introduction to Elizabeth David's 1960 book French Provincial Cooking she writes that "There is the art, or the discipline, call it what you like, of leaving well alone".

List of garnishes

Foods and entree

Garnishes for foods and entrees include:

Sun dried tomato used as garnish for the vegan Penne

Desserts and sweets

Garnishes for desserts and sweets include:

A frosted muffin garnished with confetti candy

Beverages

Garnishes for beverages include:

A gin martini with a lime twist

Coffee-based drinks may have:

Savory drinks such as Bloody Mary may have:

Eggnog may have:

Various fruits are used:

Garnishes according to cuisine traditions

French garnishes

Classic French garnishes include

For soups:

Chilled leek and potato soup garnished with croutons

For relevés and entrées:

Indonesian garnishes

Indonesian festive tumpeng rice cone, garnished with decoratively sliced chili pepper and cucumber.

Japanese garnishes

Japanese miso ramen garnished with edible seaweed, sesame and scallion

Korean garnishes

Jidan, a Korean egg garnish for soups

In Korean cuisine, decorative garnishes are referred to as gomyeong (고명), means to decorate or embellish food.

Garnish tools

Tools often used for creating food garnishes include skewers, knives, graters, toothpicks, and parchment cones.

See also

References

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