| Garden Chervil | ||||||||||||||||||
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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.