Chervil Juice (French Parsley - Chervil coulis - Anthriscus cerefolium) and Its Benefits

Chervil has been used for several medicinal purposes throughout history by herbalists. The first-century Roman scholar Pliny and the seventeenth-century herbalist Nicholas Culpeper believed that chervil, as Culpeper put it does much please and warm old and cold somachs’.

Chervil drink has been used as an expectorant, a stimulant, a dissolver of congealed blood,a healer of eczema, a digestive, and a cure for high blood pressure, gout, kidney stones,pleurisy, dropsy and menstrual problems. Of these properties, the most persistently recognized to this day has been the ability to lower blood pressure, but no clinical studies support this or any of the claims.


The tender young leaves of chervil have been used in spring tonics for thousands of years, dating back to the ancient Greeks. A combination of chervil, dandelion and watercress rejuvenates the body from the deficiency brought on by winter and lack of fresh greens, because of all their vitamins and minerals. Even today European herbalists recommend this tonic. In Norway and France bowls of minced fresh chervil leaves often accompany meals.

People liberally sprinkle the chopped leaves on salads, soups and stews. As with most herbs, chervil is an aid to sluggish digestion. When brewed as a tea it can be used as a soothing eye wash. The whole plant reportedly relieves coughs, a practice still tried by some people.

Chervil is one of the staples of classic French cooking. Along with chives, tarragon and parsley, it is used as an aromatic seasoning blend called ‘fines herbes’. Most frequently it is used to flavour 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 velouté 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 sauce its distinctive taste. Chervil, being a spring herb, has a natural affinity for other spring foods: salmon trout, young asparagus, new potatoes, baby green beans, carrots and salads of spring greens.

Chervil’s flavour is lost very easily, either by drying the herb, or from too much heat, so it should be added at the end of cooking or sprinkled on in its fresh, raw state. One way to keep chervil’s flavour is to preserve it in white wine vinegar. Because its flavour is so potent, little else is needed as flavouring when added to foods. This makes it a low-calorie way to add interest to meals. Chervil’s delicate leaves make it an attractive herb to use for garnishes. Despite its fragile appearance, it keeps well. Chervil will last up to a week in the refrigerator.

Chervil has been over-looked in American cooking until recently, because most people have tasted only dried chervil, which is basically tasteless and musty and at best tastes sweet and grassy with a touch of liquorice.

Chervil is an effective seasoning to foods. Both the leaves and the stems can be used for cooking and whole sprigs make a delicate and decorative garnish. Blanched sprigs of chervil are occasionally used in soup.

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