Chervil
Encyclopedia
Chervil is a delicate annual
herb
related to parsley
. Sometimes called garden chervil, it is used to season mild-flavoured dishes and is a constituent of the French herb mixture fines herbes
.
, chervil is native to the Caucasus
but was spread by the Romans through most of Europe, where it is now naturalised.
The plants grow to 40 centimetre, with tripinnate leaves that may be curly. The small white flowers form small umbels, 2.54 centimetre across. The fruit is about 1 cm long, oblong-ovoid with a slender, ridged beak.
, sometimes called turnip rooted chervil
or tuberous-rooted chervil
. This type of chervil produces much thicker roots than types cultivated for their leaves. It was a popular vegetable in the 19th century. Now virtually forgotten in Britain and the United States, root chervil is still used in French cuisine, in soups or stews.
Sometimes referred to as "gourmet's parsley", chervil is used to season poultry
, seafood
, and young vegetable
s. It is particularly popular in France, where it is added to omelettes, salads and soups. More delicate than parsley, it has a faint taste of liquorice or aniseed.
aid, for lowering high blood pressure, and, infused with vinegar
, for curing hiccups. Besides its digestive properties, it is used as a mild stimulant.
Chervil has also been implicated in "strimmer dermatitis
" due to a phytophotodermatitis
due to spray from a weed trimmer. Other plants in the family Apiaceae
can have similar effects.
. It prefers a cool and moist location, otherwise it rapidly goes to seed (also known as bolting). Regular harvesting of leaves also helps to prevent bolting. If plants bolt despite precautions, the plant can be periodically re-sown through the growing season, thus producing fresh plants as older plants bolt and go out of production.
Chervil grows to a height of 12 to 24 in (30.5 to 61 ), and a width of 6 to 12 in (15.2 to 30.5 ).
Annual plant
An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...
herb
Herb
Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...
related to parsley
Parsley
Parsley is a species of Petroselinum in the family Apiaceae, native to the central Mediterranean region , naturalized elsewhere in Europe, and widely cultivated as an herb, a spice and a vegetable.- Description :Garden parsley is a bright green hairless biennial herbaceous plant in temperate...
. Sometimes called garden chervil, it is used to season mild-flavoured dishes and is a constituent of the French herb mixture fines herbes
Fines herbes
Fines herbes is a combination of herbs that forms a mainstay of Mediterranean cuisine. The ingredients of fines herbes are fresh parsley, chives, tarragon and chervil. These "fine herbs" are not the pungent and resinous herbs that appear in a bouquet garni – which, unlike fines herbes, release...
.
Biology
A member of the ApiaceaeApiaceae
The Apiaceae , commonly known as carrot or parsley family, is a group of mostly aromatic plants with hollow stems. The family is large, with more than 3,700 species spread across 434 genera, it is the sixteenth largest family of flowering plants...
, chervil is native to the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
but was spread by the Romans through most of Europe, where it is now naturalised.
The plants grow to 40 centimetre, with tripinnate leaves that may be curly. The small white flowers form small umbels, 2.54 centimetre across. The fruit is about 1 cm long, oblong-ovoid with a slender, ridged beak.
Root Chervil
Another type of chervil is grown as a root vegetableRoot vegetable
Root vegetables are plant roots used as vegetables. Here "root" means any underground part of a plant.Root vegetables are generally storage organs, enlarged to store energy in the form of carbohydrates. They differ in the concentration and the balance between sugars, starches, and other types of...
, sometimes called turnip rooted chervil
Chaerophyllum bulbosum
Chaerophyllum bulbosum is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family known by several common names, including turnip-rooted chervil, tuberous-rooted chervil, bulbous chervil, and parsnip chervil. It is native to Europe and Western Asia.This is a tall annual herb with fringelike divided...
or tuberous-rooted chervil
Chaerophyllum bulbosum
Chaerophyllum bulbosum is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family known by several common names, including turnip-rooted chervil, tuberous-rooted chervil, bulbous chervil, and parsnip chervil. It is native to Europe and Western Asia.This is a tall annual herb with fringelike divided...
. This type of chervil produces much thicker roots than types cultivated for their leaves. It was a popular vegetable in the 19th century. Now virtually forgotten in Britain and the United States, root chervil is still used in French cuisine, in soups or stews.
Culinary arts
Poultry
Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as "waterfowl"...
, seafood
Seafood
Seafood is any form of marine life regarded as food by humans. Seafoods include fish, molluscs , crustaceans , echinoderms . Edible sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae, are also seafood, and are widely eaten around the world, especially in Asia...
, and young vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
s. It is particularly popular in France, where it is added to omelettes, salads and soups. More delicate than parsley, it has a faint taste of liquorice or aniseed.
Traditional
Chervil had various traditional uses. It was claimed to be useful as a digestiveDigestion
Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breakdown of food into smaller components that are more easily absorbed into a blood stream, for instance. Digestion is a form of catabolism: a breakdown of large food molecules to smaller ones....
aid, for lowering high blood pressure, and, infused with vinegar
Vinegar
Vinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. Slow methods generally are used with traditional...
, for curing hiccups. Besides its digestive properties, it is used as a mild stimulant.
Chervil has also been implicated in "strimmer dermatitis
Dermatitis
-Etymology:Dermatitis derives from Greek derma "skin" + -itis "inflammation" and genetic disorder.-Terminology:There are several different types of dermatitis. The different kinds usually have in common an allergic reaction to specific allergens. The term may describe eczema, which is also called...
" due to a phytophotodermatitis
Phytophotodermatitis
Phytophotodermatitis is a chemical reaction which makes skin hypersensitive to ultraviolet light. It is frequently mistaken for hereditary conditions such as atopic dermatitis or chemical burns, but it is caused by contact with the photosensitizing compounds found naturally in some plants and...
due to spray from a weed trimmer. Other plants in the family Apiaceae
Apiaceae
The Apiaceae , commonly known as carrot or parsley family, is a group of mostly aromatic plants with hollow stems. The family is large, with more than 3,700 species spread across 434 genera, it is the sixteenth largest family of flowering plants...
can have similar effects.
Cultivation
Chervil is best grown seeded in place - transplanting can be difficult, due to the long taprootTaproot
A taproot is an enlarged, somewhat straight to tapering plant root that grows vertically downward. It forms a center from which other roots sprout laterally.Plants with taproots are difficult to transplant...
. It prefers a cool and moist location, otherwise it rapidly goes to seed (also known as bolting). Regular harvesting of leaves also helps to prevent bolting. If plants bolt despite precautions, the plant can be periodically re-sown through the growing season, thus producing fresh plants as older plants bolt and go out of production.
Chervil grows to a height of 12 to 24 in (30.5 to 61 ), and a width of 6 to 12 in (15.2 to 30.5 ).
See also
- Wild Chervil
- Parsnip chervilChaerophyllum bulbosumChaerophyllum bulbosum is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family known by several common names, including turnip-rooted chervil, tuberous-rooted chervil, bulbous chervil, and parsnip chervil. It is native to Europe and Western Asia.This is a tall annual herb with fringelike divided...
- Bur Chervil
- DillDillDill is a perennial herb. It is the sole species of the genus Anethum, though classified by some botanists in a related genus as Peucedanum graveolens C.B.Clarke.-Growth:...
- Sweet CicelySweet cicelySweet cicely may refer to:* Cicely, a European herb also called "sweet cicely"* Osmorhiza, a genus of two American plants called "sweet cicely"...