Garnish is a French word that means filler or decoration. That is, you decorate the main dish with it before serving. But usually the side dish serves for a fuller disclosure of the taste of meat, game or fish and is no less nutritious and appetizing dish.
The side dish is not considered the main dish, but is its addition and decoration. Each main product has its own specific side dish. For meat, poultry and fish, use vegetables prepared in different ways. There are also versatile side dishes that go well with almost any main course.
Vegetables will best complement the taste of meat. They can be either raw: tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, all this can be lightly poured with olive oil or natural vinegar, or fried, stewed or boiled. Another plus of this side dish is the fact that the vegetable fiber helps better digest the meat.
But in the cold season, high-quality vegetables without nitrates are difficult to find, so they can be replaced with buckwheat, rice or potatoes (thrifty Russians usually store it all year round), which are also well suited as a side dish. The main meat dish goes well with sweet and sour side dishes (braised sauerkraut, pineapple, mango, and more).
Not all vegetables and cereals are suitable as a side dish for fish. In this case, too simple products will be inappropriate - pasta, buckwheat porridge, etc. Remember that rice goes well with any fish, as with any other seafood, as long as you cook it correctly. You can try making a side dish with potatoes. Any addition to the main product should coincide with it in terms of the cooking method, for example, a boiled side dish is suitable for a boiled dish, etc.
In different countries of the world, the definition of a side dish may differ from traditional Russian cuisine. In the international and French sense of the word, a side dish is a seasoning (herbs, celery, parsley, dill) or decorations for a finished main product (usually vegetables), which are laid with a border around the main dish. In Russian cuisine, this term has a different meaning - the addition of the main product (vegetables, potatoes, cereals and much more).
Garnish can be simple and compound. The first consists of one product: potatoes, cabbage, pasta, rice, buckwheat. The second side dish is made with several ingredients, such as potatoes with mushrooms or cucumbers and green peas.
