Herb and Spice of the Week - Chervil

Garden Chervil

Chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium), sometimes called garden chervil to distinguish it from similar plants also called chervil, or French parsley, is a delicate annual herb related to parsley. It is commonly used to season mild-flavored dishes and is a constituent of the French herb mixture fines herbs.








A member of the Apiaceae, 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 16–28 in., with tripinnate leaves that may be curly. The small white flowers form small umbels, 1.00–1.97 in. across. The fruit is about 1 cm long, oblong-ovoid with a slender, ridged beak.

Chervil garnishing a salad

Sometimes referred to as "gourmet's parsley", chervil is used, particularly in France, to season poultry, seafood, young spring vegetables (such as carrots), soups, and sauces. More delicate than parsley, it has a faint taste of liquorice or aniseed.


Chervil is one of the four traditional French fines herbs, along with tarragon, chives, and parsley, which are essential to French cooking. Unlike the more pungent, robust herbs, thyme, rosemary, etc., which can take prolonged cooking, the fines herbs are added at the last minute, to salads, omelets, and soups.








According to some, slugs are attracted to chervil and the plant is sometimes used to bait them.


Chervil has had various uses in folk medicine. It was claimed to be useful as a digestive 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", or phytophotodermatitis, due to spray from weed trimmers and other forms of contact. Other plants in the family Apiaceae can have similar effects. Precise identification before picking is very necessary due to its similar appearance to Hemlock (Conium), to which it is related. Hemlock is highly toxic and confusion between the two plants could cause death.








Chervil is best grown seeded in place, as transplanting can be difficult, due to the long taproot. It prefers a cool and moist location, otherwise it rapidly goes to seed (also known as bolting). It is usually grown as a cool season crop, like lettuce and should be planted in early spring and late fall or in a winter greenhouse. Regular harvesting of leaves also helps to prevent bolting. If plants bolt despite precautions, the plant can be periodically re-sown throughout 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 inches (300 to 610 mm), and a width of 6 to 12 inches.