A garnish is precisely the unnecessary: a little colour, a flourish, a cherry on top.
However, strangely, the meaning of the word garnish is derived from preparing for battle.
In late 14c middle English ‘to garnish’ was to equip for defence; arm for battle, prepare to defend. This from Old English “warnian”- to take warning, beware.
Nowadays garnish has a legal definition regarding seizing money that is owed.
But the more common modern definition of garnish is to ‘decorate or embellish something, especially food’.
Imagine a soldier tensely preparing for battle.The final touches could mean the difference between life and death. And somehow through generations, the word attributed to this preparation has become the equivalent of placing an edible flower tenderly atop a salad.
To arm oneself has become to embellish…Words of war have become words of parsley!
Have we become so trivial?
On the contrary, I shall defend the seemingly inconsequential garnish.
While modern times have produced many genuinely terrible situations, in most parts of the world life is physically safer and more protected than it ever was.
But this is not to say new dangers have not arisen.
Along with safety, it is taken for granted that easier and quicker is better. Efficiency is superior, shortcuts are preferred.
Convenience. Utility. Smooth function. In business. At home. In personal encounters. In expectation of political outcome. Judgements are formed, with speed. Make the judgement, get the thing done. Make things happen. Don’t waste time. Don’t waste your life!
At the same time, we are encouraged to want so much from our encounters. To know what is in it for us, before we engage. It seems necessary to ‘know where we stand’ and ‘make things count’.
All these things are taken for granted as being a better way to navigate the world.
However I doubt that I’m the only one to suggest that the world ‘feels’ dangerous.
The pressure of the news cycle along with achievement expectations creates a heightened, risky atmosphere.
Without disputing actual threats or worrying events, could it be that speed, and efficiency are part of the actual dangers that we face?
To quote Virginia Woolf: “If you are losing your leisure, look out! -- It may be you are losing your soul.”
Which brings me to the humble garnish.
Does not the act of garnishing resist, in a small but luxurious way, the pressures of efficiency and hyperactivity?
A flutter of lemon zest on your salmon implies a lack of urgency. A sprinkle of parsley on your roast potatoes suggests that you may, oh so elegantly, even have a little time to spare.
The point being that, the garnish has nothing to do with utility, or saving the world. The garnish is not crucial, it is never the main meal.
It waves a tiny flag. It signals, let us be in a place where there is time for a flourish.
And so, perversely, this may be where the word garnish can relate to its original meaning.
When Everything seems to be so Important, perhaps the unnecessary becomes a form of defence
against everything mattering, all the time.
If we have time for the ‘unnecessary’ we also have time for those around us, and for what is out of our control.
Just because it “doesn’t matter” does not mean "nothing matters.”
The cherry on top may bring the joy.
