Facts About Parsley
Parsley may call to mind thoughts of cheap garnishes displayed atop dishes at your favorite restaurant. However, parsley is not used only as a garnish. Whether the recipe calls for fresh or dried, parsley is almost always called for to add a little extra something to the dish.
Basics
Parsley is a green herb available in three varieties: curly, Italian flat leaf and Hamburg. It can be bought fresh or dried. Curly parsley is most commonly used as a garnish due to its appearance and bitter taste while Italian flat leaf packs more flavor, thus adding more to a dish. Both types of parsley, however, are not eaten by themselves but as a seasoning in many dishes. The Hamburg variety of parsley is not commonly known and the root is the part that is used rather than the leaves.
History
Parsley dates back to the Greeks and Romans where it was originally used medicinally rather than for consumption. It is native to southern Europe in the Mediterranean region near Greece. The plant gets its name from the Greek word Petro, which means stone, because parsley was found to be growing on a rocky hillside in Greece. For many years, parsley was used as a funeral herb and was considered to be a sign of death. The herb was used in wreaths that were made to decorate graves. Parsley acquired this reputation because the Greeks claimed that the plant grew from the bloody area where their hero Archemorus was killed by snakes. The Romans believed that parsley could ward off drunkenness and used it as way to cover up bad breath.
Cooking With Parsley
The most common usage of parsley is as an addition to soups, salads and sauces to add a bit of freshness to the dish. Fresh parsley is generally added at the end of cooking to keep the fresh flavor while dried parsley is added before or during cooking to give the flavor time to seep into the dish. Dried parsley does not add as much flavor as fresh and some cooks claim it adds nothing to a dish. Flat leaf parsley stands up to heat better than curly, which is why it is more commonly added during cooking while curly parsley is added as a garnish.
Preparing Parsley
It is always best to wait and rinse parsley right before use because of its fragile state. To store parsley, wrap it in a damp paper towel and place it in an air-tight bag. When buying parsley, look for bright green colors and stay away from yellowing leaves and stems. Keep dried parsley away from light and extreme temperatures for best results.
Health Benefits
Although parsley may seem to be too small to have many health benefits, it does in fact contain large amounts of nutrients, vitamins and antioxidants. Parsley is an excellent source of vitamins C, A and K as well as iron and folate. The oils that exist in parsley come together to offer the body certain amazing health benefits. These "volatile" oils have been shown in studies to inhibit the growth of tumors in the lungs and brain. The components of parsley also help to cleanse the body of toxins. The flavonoids present in parsley function as antioxidants to the blood.
Tags: away from, dried parsley, during cooking, flat leaf, fresh dried