Holy trinity (cuisine)

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As a culinary term, the holy trinity originally refers specifically to chopped celery, bell peppers, and onions, used as the staple base for much of the cooking in the Cajun and Creole regional cuisines of Louisiana.

While a "trinity" may refer to a generic representation of three cornerstone ingredients of a particular national cuisine, a trio of specific ingredients combined together to become essentially flavour bases much like its original usage within the regional cuisines of Louisiana are also called "trinities", and this is often arrived at by sautéing a combination of any three aromatic vegetables, condiments, seasonings, herbs, or spices. Because these three ingredients are so common in the recipes of some cuisines, they are almost indivisible and often end up being treated as a single ingredient, and provide the distinctive flavoring of specific cuisines. Cooking these few base ingredients in butter or oil releases their flavour which in turn is infused into other ingredients. This technique is most typically used when creating sauces, soups, stews, and stir-fries.

Common trinities in other cuisines are:

• Brazilian Cuisine: The cuisine of Bahia, Brazil combines dende oil, coconut milk and malagueta pepper to produce the distinctive flavours of the region.
• Chinese Cuisine: the definitive Chinese trinity of scallions, ginger and garlic.^[1][2] The base of the seasoning combination known as yuxiang (魚香) consists of these three primary ingredients cooked together.
  • A trinity of garlic, ginger and chili peppers is a common flavour base used in the spicier regional cuisines of China. Sichuan cuisine in particular, often combines Sichuan pepper with garlic and chili peppers. ^[3]
• Cuban Cuisine: The Cuban trinity of garlic, bell pepper and Spanish onion.
• Filipino Cuisine: Ginisâ ("sautéd") is a Filipino culinary term, referring to garlic, onions and sometimes tomatoes sautéd together; it is essentially similar to the Spanish sofrito. ^[4]
• French Cuisine: the definitive trinity of French cuisine is widely accepted as a Mirepoix of celery, onion and carrots.
  • a flavour base of butter, cream and eggs is typically found in classical French haute cuisine.
  • a bouquet garni is at its core a combination of parsley, thyme and bay leaves tied together as a flavour base for liquid dishes.
• Greek Cuisine: the Greek trinity of lemon juice, olive oil and oregano^[5]
• Indian Cuisine: Garlic, ginger and onion (the first two usually ground or mashed into "wet" pastes) are often sauteed to form the flavour base for much of the cooking in Indian cuisine. Some communities or regional cuisines traditionally do not use, or combine these ingredients together to prepare a base for their cooking. For example, followers of Jainism avoid garlic and onion among other foods due to their religious beliefs.
• Indonesian Cuisine: Fish, coconut and chilli peppers are the staples of Indonesian cuisine, and many traditional dishes are composed of two or all three ingredients in some form or another.
• Italian Cuisine: the Italian trinity of tomato, garlic and basil; another trinity in Italian cooking is a soffritto of carrot, onion and celery, essentially similar to the French mirepoix.
• Japanese Cuisine: Dashi, mirin and soy sauce are often combined to flavour and season many dishes in Japanese cuisine.
• Korean Cuisine: the "trinity" of garlic, ginseng and kimchi are seen as the cornerstone ingredients of Korean cuisine, although traditional Korean cooking never combines all three ingredients in preparing a single dish.^[6]
• Lebanese Cuisine: the Lebanese trinity of garlic, lemon juice and olive oil.
• Mexican Cuisine: the Mexican trinity of corn, beans and chilies.^[7] Three types of dried chilies - ancho, pasilla, and guajillo - are frequently combined to flavour dishes and are also referred as a "Holy Trinity". ^[8]
• Native American Cuisine (Generalized): the pre-Columbian North American staples were corn, beans, and squash, which were cultivated together in a companion planting method called the "Three Sisters".
• Russian Cuisine: In Russian cuisine, Зажарка ("zazharka") is a term for an assortment of vegetables sauteed together, and a vital component in soups as the flavour base. At its core, it is a trinity of carrot, onion and tomatoes cooked in vegetable oil.
• Spanish Cuisine: the Spanish trinity of bread, olive oil and wine.^[9] Sofrito, a sauteed base of garlic, onion and tomato cooked in olive oil is widely used as a base for countless Spanish recipes.
• Thai Cuisine: the Thai trinity of galangal, kaffir lime and lemon grass.

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[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• "Chinese holy trinity". December 2003. http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2007/04/09/the-holy-trinity-of-the-chinese-kitchen. Retrieved 2008-05-22. 
• "Greek trinity". December 2003. http://www.souvlakiforthesoul.com/index_files/feb-2007.html. Retrieved 2008-05-22. 
• "Korean cuisine holy trinity". December 2003. http://media.www.thechartonline.com/media/storage/paper630/news/2003/12/12/MccalebInitiative/Koreans.Believe.holy.Trinity.Prevents.Outbreak.Of.Sars-576745.shtml. Retrieved 2008-05-22. .
• "Spanish holy trinity". December 2003. http://www.spaindreams.com/eng/gastro.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-22. 

[edit] External links

The Holy Trinity: Ingredient Trios