Holiday Cooking – Parsley

It is December already, so time to head for the kitchen! Time to make our favorite holiday dishes (and try a few new ones) – the kind of dishes that send delicious aromas throughout the house, and conjure up tasty memories of holidays past. Over the years, we have been working through Jan-Öjvind Swahn’s book, The Lore of Spices, to explore herbs and spices from around the world. Thanks to “plants on the move” these herbs and spices have enriched cuisines all over the planet, and our holiday cooking is a beneficiary.

In this Christmas season, I’m spotlighting three herbs from the Mediterranean – parsley, sage, and rosemary (three of the four herbs immortalized in Simon and Garfunkel’s song “Scarborough Fair” from their 1966 album “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme”; itself based on an old English folk song). These herbs are used extensively in European, Middle Eastern, and American cuisine. They are mild in flavor, compared with some of the fiery and potent spices we have explored over the years, but they add an earthy and homey taste to our vegetables, meats, stews, and soups.

Botanical illustration of Petroselinum crispum from Koehler's Medicinal Plants.
Published before 1923 and in public domain in the United States.

Petroselinum crispum is in the Apiaceae family (formerly Umbelliferae), the parsley plants. Parsley originated in the Mediterranean, around southern Italy, Greece, Tunisia, and Algeria. Not much is written about cooking with parsley in ancient times, instead it was thought to reduce the feeling of drunkenness, and crowned the heads of sports champions in ancient Greece. In Medieval times, parsley was thought to ward off evil, and was included in Charlemagne’s list of medicinal plants that should be grown on all estates. By the 1800s, French cooks saw parsley as a vital ingredient. Now we recognize that parsley is high in vitamin C; use parsley to garnish our meals and freshen our breath; and include parsley for many savory dishes. Swahn notes that the best way to bring out the full taste of parsley is to deep fry it, just until it turns bright green. Something new to try!

Parsley grows 3 feet (.9 meters) tall. Flowers are greenish-yellow or reddish in compound umbels, with involucels (small floral clusters), at the base. Fruit is ovate and compressed; seeds are slow to germinate. Leaves are ternately compound. All parts of the plant, especially the seeds, contain the essential oil, apiol; and a glycoside, apiin. Soak seeds before planting to accelerate germination; and transplant the fibrous root to a container, and place in a warm window for winter use.