Soffritto, Mirepoix and Włoszczyzna

Most savory cooking in Europe starts with cooking chopped vegetables in fat. The Italian soffritto is onion, carrot and celery, diced fine and cooked slowly in olive oil for 15 minutes or more until sweet. The French mirepoix uses the same vegetables, cut larger for long stocks, in butter. Polish włoszczyzna, the bunch sold as soup greens, swaps in parsley root, celery root and leek. The usual ratio is two parts onion to one part each of the others. Cut the pieces to suit the cooking time: finer for quick sauces, chunkier for stock.