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À ta place, j'ajouterais une garniture fraîche.

À ta place, j'ajouterais une garniture fraîche.
In your place, I would add a fresh garnish.
From Lesson 378:Implicit conditions (À ta place, avec...)·French

Questions & Answers about À ta place, j'ajouterais une garniture fraîche.

Where is the "if" clause in this sentence?
There isn't one! The phrase À ta place (In your place) acts as an implicit condition. It essentially means Si j'étais à ta place (If I were you). Because it sets up a hypothetical scenario without using si, the verb that follows must still be in the conditional tense (j'ajouterais).
How can I tell that j'ajouterais is the conditional and not the future tense?
In writing, the conditional always ends in -ais for the je form, while the future tense ends in -ai (j'ajouterai). In everyday spoken French, these two endings usually sound identical! You have to rely on context clues: the hypothetical setup of À ta place guarantees you are hearing the conditional.
Does une garniture just mean a decorative garnish like a sprig of parsley?
It can mean a visual garnish, but in French culinary terms, une garniture is usually much more substantial. It frequently refers to a side dish (like vegetables or potatoes served alongside meat) or a filling/topping (like the ingredients inside a crêpe or on top of a pizza).
Why is the adjective spelled fraîche here instead of frais?
Because garniture is a feminine noun, the adjective must agree with it. Frais (fresh) is an irregular adjective, and you are seeing its feminine form, fraîche.

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