Literary notes about Garnish (AI summary)
In literary texts, the term "garnish" often appears to denote both a literal and figurative act of embellishment. In culinary writings, directions to garnish a dish with various ingredients—from lemon slices and parsley to capers and barberries ([1], [2], [3], [4])—emphasize both the aesthetic appeal and the enhancement of flavor. Meanwhile, in more poetic or metaphorical contexts, authors use "garnish" to evoke the art of decoration, as when a character’s appearance or language is described as being adorned to perfection ([5], [6], [7]). Additionally, the word finds a broader socio-cultural application in financial or rhetorical settings, as when it refers to adding a supplementary embellishment to accounts or statements ([8], [9]). Thus, across a spectrum of textual traditions—from Roman cookbooks and early American texts to classical literature and satirical works—it uniquely bridges the tangible world of cuisine and the realm of creative expression.
- Garnish your dish with Lemons, Prunes, Mace, Raisins, Currans, and Sugar.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - Garnish with points of toast and parsley.
— from Miss Parloa's New Cook Book by Maria Parloa - Serve white sauce, and garnish with slices of lemon and barberries.—The neck is good boiled, and eaten with parsley and butter.
— from The English Housekeeper: Or, Manual of Domestic Management Containing advice on the conduct of household affairs and practical instructions concerning the store-room, the pantry, the larder, the kitchen, the cellar, the dairy; the whole being intended for the use of young ladies who undertake the superintendence of their own housekeeping by Anne Cobbett - When cold, turn it out into a large dish, garnish with jelly and ornamental paper.
— from Housekeeping in Old Virginia - Nature glitters most in her own plain, homely garb, and then gives the greatest lustre when she is unsullied from all artificial garnish.
— from In Praise of Folly by Desiderius Erasmus - If I were the summer, With flowers and green, I'd garnish thy temples, And would crown thee my queen.
— from Urith: A Tale of Dartmoor by S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould - So are you, sweet, Even in the lovely garnish of a boy.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - payment &c.807[Money paid]; pay &c. (remuneration) 973; bribe &c. 973; fee, footing, garnish; subsidy; tribute; contingent, quota; donation &c.784.
— from Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget - Coals were purchased out of the garnish money and the charitable fund; so were candles, salt, pepper, mops and brooms.
— from The Chronicles of Newgate, vol. 2/2 by Arthur Griffiths
