Read about Chervil in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
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Chervil. A term applied to two umbelliferous plants that produce edible parts, neither of which is well known in America. The name is sometimes applied, also, to the sweet cicely. Salad chervil or leaf chervil is Anthriscus Cerefolium, Hoffm., a native of Caucasus, southern Russia and western Asia. It is annual, reaching 1½ to 2 feet high. The neat and aromatic leaves are used like parsley, which they much resemble. The leaves are decompound, with oval cut leaflets; and there are varieties with much cut and curled foliage. The cultivation of salad chervil presents no difficulties. Leaves are ready to use in six to ten weeks from seed-sowing, and any good garden soil is congenial. It thrives best in the cooler and moister part of the year. In hot weather, seeds would better be sown in a shaded place. Tuberous or turnip-rooted chervil is Chaerophyllum bulbosum, Linn., of southern Europe. (See Chaerophyllum.) It is biennial or plur-annual, like the radish and carrot. The roots are like small carrots in shape (4 to 5 inches long), but are gray or blackish, and the flesh is yellowish white and of different flavor. The roots are eaten as carrots are, either boiled or in stews. The one difficulty in the growing of tuberous chervil is the fact that the seeds germinate very tardily, or even not at all, if kept dry over winter. It is customary, therefore, to sow them in the fall, although they do not germinate until spring. If they are to be reserved for spring-growing, they should be stratified (see Seedage) or kept in sand. In four or five months after germination, the roots are fit to use, although they improve in quality by being left in the ground. The roots keep well in winter. L.H.B.
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| Anthriscus cerefolium (L.) Hoffm. | ||||||||||||||||||
Chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium), sometimes called garden chervil, is a delicate annual herb, usually used to season mild-flavoured foods such as poultry, some seafoods, and young vegetables. It is a constituent of the French herb mixture fines herbes. Some cooks refer to chervil as "gourmet's parsley." Chervil is sometimes used as a trap crop by gardeners to protect vegetable plants from slugs.
Classification: Chervil is a member of the parsley or carrot family, Apiaceae.
Folklore
Chervil had various traditional uses. Pregnant women bathed in an infusion of it; a lotion of it was used as a skin cleanser; and it was used medicinally as a blood purifier.
Further reading
- Howard, Michael. Traditional Folk Remedies (Century, 1987), p.118.