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Chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium [L.] Hoffm.)

Synonyms

botanicalCherifolium cerefolium
Arabicمقدونس آفرنجي, مقدونس فرنجي
مَقْدُونِسٌ إفْرَنْجِي, مَقْدُونِسٌ فْرَنْج
Maqdunis afranji, Maqdunis franji
AzeriDağ keşniş
Дағ кешниш
BasqueApo perexil
BretonSerfilh
Bulgarian Азмацуг балдаранолистен, Азмацук обикновен, Див керевиз
Azmatsug baldaranolisten, Div kereviz, Azmatsuk obiknoven
CatalanCerfull
Chinese
(Cantonese)
山蘿蔔 [sāan lòh baahk], 西洋峨參 [sāi yèuhng ngòh sàm], 細葉芹 [sai yihp kàhn]
Saan loh baahk, Sai yeuhng ngoh sam, Sai yihp kahn
Chinese
(Mandarin)
山蘿蔔 [shān luó bo], 西洋峨參 [xī yáng é cān], 細葉芹 [xì yè qín], 茴芹 [huí qín]
Shan luo bo, Shan lo po, Xi yang e can, Xi ye qin, Hui qin
Copticⲁⲣⲉⲥⲫⲓⲗⲟⲛ
Aresfilon
CroatianKrasuljica, Krbuljica
CzechKerblík třebule
DanishKørvel
DutchKervel
EnglishGarden chervil, French parsley
EsperantoCerefolio
FinnishKirveli, Maustekirveli
FrenchCerfeuil
EstonianAed-harakputk, Harakputk
GaelicCostag
GermanKerbel, Gartenkerbel, Französische Petersilie
GreekΑνθρίσκος, Σκαντζίκι, Φραγκομαϊντανός
Anthriskos, Skantziki, Frankomaintanos
Greek (Old)Ἄνθρισκον, Ἀνθρίσκιον, Ἀνθρίσκος, Χαιρεφύλλον
Anthriskon, Anthriskion, Anthriskos, Chairephyllon
Hebrewצ׳ירוויל
Chervil
HungarianTurbolya, Zamatos turbolya
IcelandicKerfill
ItalianCerfoglio
Japaneseシャク, チャービル, チャーヴィル
Chabiru, Chaviru, Shiyaku
Korean차빌, 챠빌, 쳐빌
Chabil, Chyabil, Chyeobil, Chyobil
LatinCærefolium, Cerifolium
LatvianLapu kārvele
LithuanianDaržinis builis
MacedonianКрбулица
Krbulica
MongolianХашилж
Hashilzh
NorwegianKjørvel, Hagekjørvel
OssetianГӕнгӕлы
Gaengaely
PolishTrybula ogrodowa
PortugueseCerefólio, Cerefolho
ProvençalCerfuei, Cherfuei
RomanianAsmățuiAsmăţui, HasmațuchiHasmaţuchi
RussianКервель
Kervel
SerbianКрбуљица, Красуљица
Krbuljica, Krasuljica
SlovakTrebuľka voňavá, Trebuľka
SlovenianVrtna krebuljica
SpanishPerifollo, Cerafolio
SwedishKörvel, Dansk körvel, Trädgårdskörvel
TurkishFrenk maydanoz, Frenkmayıdanozu
VietnameseHồi cần
Hoi can
Yiddishקערװל, פּעטרישקע־קערװל
Kervl, Petrishke-kervl
Anthriscus cerefolium: Chervil
Chervil flower cluster and unripe fruits
Anthriscus cerefolium: Chervil leaf
Chervil leaf
Used plant part

Leaves. They are nearly always used fresh, but can be preserved by deep-freezing or by making a pesto-like pre­paration (see basil).

Plant family

Api­aceae (parsley family).

Sensory quality

Sweet and aromatic, somewhat intermediate between parsley and anise. On other spices with a similar fragrance, see cicely.

Main constituents

The plant contains only minor amounts of essential oil (0.3% in the fresh herb, 0.9% in the seeds); it contains methylchavicol (estragole) and hendecane (undecane).

Origin

Probably Southern Europe or the Caucasus region. Chervil became known in the regions north of the Mediterranean by the edict of Charlemagne, Capitulare de villis (see lovage).

Anthriscus cerefolium: Chervil flower cluster
Chervil flower cluster with unripe fruits
Etymology

Anthriskos [ἀνθρίσκος] (also anthriskon [ἄνθρισκον] or anthriskion [ἀνθρίσκιον]) is the Greek name of this plant; the species name cerefolium appears to mean leaves like wax and might refer to the bright green colour, but is more possibly a spelling mistake for cherifolium (Greek chairephyllon [χαιρεφύλλον]), the name the Romans used for this plant (Greek chairein [χαίρειν] to delight in and phyllon [φύλλον] leaf, referring to the pleasant aroma of the leaves).

Most names in the contemporary tongues of Western Europe derive from Latin cherifolium, e. g. English chervil, Swedish körvel, Portuguese cerefolho and French cerfeuil. Northern Europeans often call the plant more precisely as garden chervil (Norwegian hagekjørvel), because it is not indigenous and cannot survive in the wild.

Since chervil is used and known mostly in Western Europe, languages of other countries often have no native term for that herb, but use descriptive terms that relate chervil to a more widely known relative, parsley: Arabic maqdunis faranji [مقدونس فرنجي], Kurdish jafari farangi [جافةریی فةرةنگی], Greek frankomaintanos [φραγκομαϊντανός] and Turkish frenk maydanoz all mean Frankish parsley. Even in English, chervil is sometimes referred to as French parsley. To learn about the common etymology of faranji and French, see long coriander.

The Azeri language, however, names chervil not as a variety of parsley but rather as mountain coriander, dağ keşniş.

Selected Links

Ilkas und Ullis Kochecke: Kerbel (rezkonv.de via archive.org) A Pinch of Chervil (www.apinchof.com) Herbs by Linda Gilbert: Chervil Desirable Herb and Spice Varieties: Chervil Pflanzen des Capitulare de Villis: Kerbel (biozac.de)


Anthriscus cerefolium: Chervil plant
Chervil plant
Anthriscus cerefolium: Flowering chervil (with unripe fruits)
Flowering chervil (with unripe fruits)
Chervil is a popular herb in Central and Western Europe; the fresh leaves are chopped and added to soups, salads and fish dishes, much in the same way as parsley or coriander leaves. Herbal vinegar usually contains a few leaves of chervil (see dill for details). Chervil is popular in Ger­many and appears in the Green Sauce, see borage. See pepper­mint for an example of chervil usage in Austria.

Chervil is one of the five com­ponents of the French fines herbes, a composition of fresh herbs used in France for decoration of cold and warm dishes (see chives). Lastly, fresh leaves frequently appear in bouquet garni (see parsley), although their fragrance does not tolerate long cooking periods very well.

The dried herb is less aromatic than the fresh, but many compositions of the French herbes de Provence contain dried chervil (see lavender).

In North European countries, chervil is often substituted by a related herb, cicely or Spanish chervil, which has a stronger, anise-like aroma.



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