an embellishment added to a food to enhance its appearance or taste. Simple garnishes such as chopped herbs, decoratively cut lemons, parsley and watercress sprigs, browned breadcrumbs, sieved hardcooked eggs, and broiled tomatoes are appropriate to a wide variety of foods; their purpose is to provide contrast in colour, texture, and taste, and to give a finished appearance to the dish.
In the classic cuisine of France, garnishes comprised any accompaniment to a principal dish—vegetables and starch dishes fell under this definition. Further, basic dishes could be varied by the selection of one of a codified array of garnishes. Under this system a chicken, for example, could be served à la archiduc, with a sauce of paprika and cream; à la forestière, with morels and potatoes, à la bouquetière, with an array of individually cooked, decoratively cut vegetables, and so on into hundreds of formulations.
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