Parsley

Petroselinum crispum · Herb

1 variety40 pairings

Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is a bright, grassy-green herb of the carrot family, grown for its fresh, clean, faintly peppery leaves. It comes in two main forms — the frilled, tightly curled type and the broader, flatter "Italian" leaf — and it is one of the most widely used culinary herbs in the world, equally at home as a garnish, a finishing scatter, or the green backbone of dishes like tabbouleh, gremolata and chimichurri.

Picking a good onedrag

Just cut, stiff and deep greenYellow, limp, slimy at the ends

Shop freshThe all-rounder: gremolata, persillade, finishing a dish.Everyday best

Leaf colourGreen, a few outer leaves paling

The bunchHeads nod, stems still stiff

Cut stemsCut ends dried, stems stiff

Smell of a rubbed leafScent comes only if you rub hard

What to look for, from just cut, stiff and deep green to yellow, limp, slimy at the ends.

What one gives you

95%

Usable yield

159 g a bunch · only the tough stems go

167 g

Typical weight

one specimen

Keeping ittap a band

A domestic fridge holds it about 9× longer than the counter.

Humidity

95-100%

Near-saturated. Stand the stems in a little water, or wrap in a damp cloth; bare in dry fridge air a bunch limps within a day.

Airflow

Loose bag, not sealed

Loosely bagged, never airtight: sealed up damp the cut ends go slimy and the whole bunch sours. Perforate the bag and keep it loose.

Yellows fast beside apples and bananas

It makes almost none itself but reacts hard to it: ethylene off apples and bananas yellows the leaves, and above 0 °C it bites hardest.

Preparing