Seen at Whole Foods Market: packages of diced fresh onions, celery, and carrots in foam trays, wrapped in plastic film and labeled "mirepoix." Um, what? Okay, I'm not saying that Whole Foods has mislabeled this item, because those ingredients are just what go into mirepoix, but what's the point of packaging it?
Look, I understand why people buy convenience foods that require only reheating to be served. I can also see the appeal of meal kits where all or most of the ingredients are included and a person only has to follow the package instructions to prepare it. I have no issues with packaged stock as a time-saver, either. However, if someone is going to the trouble of starting with mirepoix in making a dish, it seems to me that this person would be interested more in using minimally-preprocessed ingredients than in saving time or effort. If this is the case, then why not start, you know, at the beginning? With whole ingredients? How much extra effort is involved in chopping up these vegetables that makes it worthwhile to pay someone else to do it?
Do I spend too much time at Whole Foods? Do other stores carry prefab mirepoix? Why would anyone buy it? Will someone explain this to me?
2009-01-22
Prefab mirepoix
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As someone who loves to cook, but rarely gets the chance, I buy this kind of stuff occasionaly, to keep waste down. I hate only needing a quarter of an onion, or one or two stalks of celery for a mirepoix, but having to buy and entire package of celery - and then having the rest of it rot in my fridge. :) Silly? Perhaps...but it allows me to cook occasionally without feeling wasteful (with food, at least).
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