cooking @ home

Taken straight from Wikipedia: “Mirepoix is the French name for a combination of onions, carrots and celery [...] is the flavor base for a wide number of dishes, such as stocks, soups, stews and sauces. [...] Traditionally, the ratio for mirepoix is 2:1:1 of onions, celery, and carrots.”

So today’s magic number, ladies and gentlemen, is 2-1-1. Though I find that can be confusing (believe it or not, at times). So maybe a better way is thinking 1 and half and half … one part onions, and the combination of half carrots and half celery. So 2-1-1 or 1-.5-.5, whichever works for you. How to remember which item gets the “2″? Think of “OCC”, of onions, carrots, celery, in that order.

You pronounce that “mira-pwah” by the way. And hey, if that sounds to gourmet or snobbish or whatever for you … just think of it as the base, as the starting point for your sauce and stocks. You use these by putting oil or butter in your pot or pan, then adding these chopped, and “sweating them”, which means a low flame to get the flavors out. If anything is browning, your heat is too hot. After about five minutes, start adding the rest of the ingredients to your sauce, soup or stew and you have a great beginning.

Now that we’ve said the rule, in cooking — even more so, apparently, than in life itself — rules are made to be broken. Often the French (who themselves came up with this) will substitute leeks for the onions. And for many, trilogy or not, it’s not the same thing unless immediately with it are cooked bits of ham or bacon.

And of course, if you have to have a basis of three of something, then some one, some where else is going to have their own version. Natch.

If you’ve ever watched Emeril, then you already know there is a Cajun and Creole variant on this know as The Trinity: It’s onions, green peppers and celery in the same proportion as the mirepoix. Except … hold your breath warning numbero uno: It’s not always in the same proportions. According to a cooking page on a Louisianna tourism website (they should know, no?) it’s 3 parts onion, 3 parts celery and 1 part bell pepper. On yet another website devoted to Lousianna cooking the chef there says in five generations of her family cooking in the bayou, it’s actually one part equal of each.

Confused? Don’t be. I’ve said it before, in cooking rules aren’t rules; they’re guidelines. And they’re broken every other minute. The big question then: Why know them then? Because there needs to be a basis. A rule book, even if it’s thrown out after having been read, it was read once and everyone has read it.

Deep breath warning number two. And just to demonstrte that absolutely nothing seems to ever add up: Also down in Cajun land comes “The Holy Trinity” — that’s when you add garlic to the Cajun Trinity above.

How is it in any way a trinity then? Come on, folks. Y’all believe in miracles dontcha? Hallelulah for garlic!!

Elsewhere in the world, some folks, chef Martin Yan included, have said that in Chinese cooking there is a “trinity” or triad basis of it’s own, namely: ginger, garlic and scallions. Not sure of the proportions. Other regional cuisines no doubt have their own versions. The idea though is simple and similiar no matter what variations nor even the proportions: These are the “aromatic” basics one starts out with to make great cooking.