That subtle, tender flavor-part anise, part parsley-that you've been trying to identify in the fish sauce, will almost certainly turn out to be chervil, the most retiring of the sister spices that make up the fines herbes of French cuisine, but one that's good company and not to be overlooked.
Chervil is a member of the Carrot family and its leaves highly resemble carrot tops. The young green leaves, which smell similar to Anise, are collected before they lose their pungency and often preserved in vinegar.
Chervil is a warm herb. Its taste and fragrance fill the senses the way warmth does, slowly, subtly. You notice chervil in the background, and you are glad to find it there because its flavour and fragrance are themselves warm and cheering.
There are two main varieties of chervil, one plain and one curly. Hardy annuals, they have a fernlike leaf structure as delicate and dainty as their flavor is subtle. The stems are branched and finely grooved, and the root is thin and white.
Flowers Small, white, in compound umbels.
Leaves. Opposite, light green, compound, leaflets subdivided into opposite deeply cut leaflets. Only lower leaves have stalks.
Height: 2 ft.
Origin and History
Chervil is native to Eastern Europe, the colonizing Romans spreading it further afield. It was once called 'myrrhis' because the volatile oil extracted from chervil leaves bears a similar aroma to the biblical resinous substance 'myrrh'.
Folklore has it that chervil makes one merry, sharpens the wit, bestows youth upon the aged and symbolizes sincerity.
Its flavour and fragrance resemble the myrrh brought by the wise men to the baby Jesus. Because of this and because chervil symbolized new life, it is linked to the Easter celebration in parts of Europe where its is traditional to serve chervil soup on Holy Thursday .
The warmth of this herb suggested medicinal uses to many of history's herbalists. The first-century Roman scholar Pliny and the seventeenth-century herbalist Nicholas Culpeper believed that chervil, as Cuipeper put it, "does much please and warm old and cold stomach,- ...."
During the Middle Ages, chervil was used for a variety of ailments. Eating a whole plant reportedly relieved hiccups, a practice still tried by some people today.
Culinary Uses:
Subtlety is key when using chervil in cooking. Although chervil will never dominate a dish, many cooks use it to enhance the flavours of other herbs accompanying it in recipes. Chervil is an important inclusion in the traditional French fines herbes blend of tarragon, parsley, chives and chervil. Chervil complements scrambled eggs and omelets, cream cheese and herb sandwiches, salads and even mashed potatoes.
Chervil is one of the staples of classic French cooking. Along with chives, tarragon andparsley, it is used as an aromatic seasoning blend called "Fines Herbes." Most frequently it is used to flavor eggs, fish, chicken and light sauces and dressings. It also combines well with mild cheeses and is a tasty addition to herb butters. This blend is the basis for ravigote sauce, a warm herbed veloute served over fish or poultry. When a recipe calls for "Pluches de cerfeuille" -- it is leaves of chervil that are required. Chervil is what gives Bernaise its distinctive taste. Chervil, being a spring time herb, has a natural affinity for other spring time foods: salmon, trout, young asparagus, new potatoes, baby green beans and carrots, salads of spring greens. Chervil's flavour is lost very easily, either by drying the herb, or too much heat. That is why it should be added at the end of cooking or sprinkled on in its fresh, raw state. One way to keep chervil's flavor is to preserve it in white wine vinegar. Because its flavor is so potent, little else is needed as flavoring when added to foods. This makes it a low calorie way to add interest to meals. Chervil's delicate lea