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mirepoix

diced vegetable base

Prepared Mirepoix components. It has carrots, onions, leeks, and celery. The pieces are approximately 5-7 mm in length. This particular batch was used to prepare a beef stock.

Mirepoix means onions, celery and carrots finely diced and gently cooked in butter or olive oil until soft but not brown, used as a base for many savoury French dishes. Often ham is added to meaty dishes. If the desired sauce is white, as in a blanquette de veau, parsnips may replace the carrots. Other dishes might ask for a different mix of vegetables.

It takes its name from the otherwise forgettable Charles-Pierre-Gaston François de Lévis, Duc de Lévis-Mirepoix (1699–1757), French field marshal and ambassador from Mirepoix who could afford to have a good chef because Louis XV was very fond of his wife. And it was this excellent but anonymous chef who standardized the technique.

Cooking techniques

Text © Dana Facaros

Image by Pigup