French phrase for celery, carrot, onion soup base?

February 1, 2008 8:34 AM

Martha Stewart prepared a soup base using only carrots, celery and onion and then she said there was a French phrase for this method but I couldn't catch it.
posted by cda to Food & Drink (11 answers total)

Best answer: It's called a mirepoix.
posted by dersins at 8:35 AM on February 1, 2008

You can use the mirepoix as sort of a base when you're cooking a pot roast as well, it just refers to the chopped up veggies not the soup/stock itself.
posted by jessamyn at 8:39 AM on February 1, 2008

I always find making mirepoix a pain in the ass because I never have celery and I hate running out to get it (and not needing the whole bunch they're sold in). So I've started making a giant batch or batches, using enough for one soup recipe and freezing the rest. I'm sure purists might be horrified but I've been happy using the frozen portions. Sorry for the random aside.
posted by peep at 8:42 AM on February 1, 2008

A culinary preparation created in the 18th century by the cook of the Duc de Levis-Mirepoix, a French field marshal and ambassador of Louis XV... Mirepoix was an incompetent and mediocre individual', writes Pierre Larousse at the end of the 19th century, who owed his vast fortune to the affection Louis XV felt toward his wife'. This same author informs us that the unfortunate Mirepoix had one claim to fame: he gave his name to a sauce made of all kinds of meat and a variety of seasonings'...

More about the history of Mirepoix.
posted by ceri richard at 8:45 AM on February 1, 2008

Peep's frozen mirepoix is an excellent idea ... my mother did the same thing for years. For extra fine easyness do it in the chopping attachment of a stab mixer ... with parsley.
posted by jannw at 8:51 AM on February 1, 2008

I know it as the Italian soffrito.
posted by wemayfreeze at 9:17 AM on February 1, 2008

They now sell the mixture in the frozen section. It's not ideal but in a pinch it's pretty neat. It's a good time saver when you don't feel like chopping up all those veggies yourself.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 10:17 AM on February 1, 2008

you can buy pre-made mirepoix at trader joe's.
posted by timory at 10:18 AM on February 1, 2008

and many other grocery stores, for that matter -- in the salad section.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 10:40 AM on February 1, 2008

I never have celery and I hate running out to get it

Celery lasts a loooooong time if you store it in your fridge's vegetable drawer in one of these veggie bags. Cook more jambalayas.

Really, there's frozen mirepoix? Huh.
posted by mumkin at 11:09 AM on February 1, 2008

I've seen premade mirepoix at Wegman's, too. I haven't seen it frozen, though.

My sister's mother-in-law is French, and the soup she makes using mirepoix as base is transcendental.
posted by Mael Oui at 8:11 PM on February 1, 2008