Mirepoix (cuisine)

A mirepoix (/mɪərˈpwɑː/ meer-PWAH; French pronunciation: ​[miʁˈpwa]) is a roughly chopped vegetable cut, usually a mixture of onions, carrots, and celery (either common pascal celery or celeriac); the traditional ratio is two parts onions, one part carrots, and one part celery. Mirepoix, raw, roasted or sautéed with butter or olive oil, is the flavor base for a wide variety of dishes, such as , soups, stews, and sauces.

Similar flavor bases include the Italian soffritto, the Spanish sofrito, from Portuguese-speaking nations refogado (braised onions, garlic, and tomato), the German Suppengrün (leeks, carrots, and celeriac), the Polish włoszczyzna (leeks, carrots, celery root, and parsley root), the U.S. Cajun and Creole holy trinity (onions, celery, and bell peppers), and the French duxelles (onions, shallots, and mushrooms, sauteed in butter).

Though the cooking technique is probably older, the term mirepoix dates from the 18th century and derives, as do many other appellations in French cuisine, from the aristocratic employer of the cook credited with establishing and stabilizing it: in this case,Charles-Pierre-Gaston François de Lévis, duc de Lévis-Mirepoix (1699–1757), French field marshal and ambassador and a member of the noble family of Lévis, lords of Mirepoix in Languedoc since the 11th century. According to Pierre Larousse (quoted in the Oxford Companion to Food), the unfortunate Duke of Mirepoix was "an incompetent and mediocre individual...who owed his vast fortune to the affection Louis XV felt toward his wife and who had but one claim to fame: he gave his name to a sauce made of all kinds of meat and a variety of seasonings":

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