Parsley’s age rolls merry with time
Don’t you just love parsley? This nutritious carrot family member is consumed in our happy nation more than any other entirely legal herb. I let one or two go through the entire two-year life process to make seeds a few years ago, and my rocky hillside might never again be without parsley. I’m so proud, because…
Charlemagne, Holy Roman Emperor among other things, liked parsley so much he insisted it be grown all over his property, and having an empire 800 miles wide meant a lot of parsley. Yet, parsley was a hit even earlier. Its fame began in Sardinia more than 2000 years ago and spread along the Mediterranean edge from Spain through Turkey to Lebanon and around to Tunisia.
Greek legend has it that parsley first sprang from the blood of warrior Archemorous and has since been tagged with scary fabled connections to death and sickness. Even in England, ancient folklore claimed it caused bad luck, baldness, blindness or epilepsy. I’m not buying any of it. Parsley comes from packets of seeds, and you can get them at Dollar General or most anywhere seeds are sold, and I’ve had only positive results nibbling on parsley in the garden and finding ways to include it in meals.
Parsley seeds are notoriously slow to germinate because (here we go again) legend has it they must travel to hell as many as nine times before germinating. Or maybe, if we listen to science, it is because a chemical compound in the seed coat inhibits other nearby varieties from sprouting, giving parsley seeds, though slow, an advantage. To hasten sprouting, soak the seeds overnight before planting or else be patient with the seeds and keep the area carefully weeded.
There are basically three varieties of parsley. Curly-leaf parsley is often used as a garnish and left on the plate by diners at restaurants. Regardless of what the main course was, parsley was probably the most nutritious item on that plate.
Plain-leaf parsley is slightly stronger in taste and in my experience eminently easier to rinse before serving. The third variety is grown for its root and is very popular in central and southern Europe. Hamburg parsley is the typical root variety sold in American seed catalogs.
Parsley fits the culinary habits of kitchens around the world. Sprinkle chopped parsley on baked potatoes or rice dishes. In Europe, bouquet garni is a combination of herbs, including parsley, added to soups and sauces. I had no idea in my rudimentary cooking style that I used persillade, a mixture of chopped garlic and parsley. All I knew was I had garlic and parsley and they were my favorites, so I chopped them up and in they went.
There are recipes worldwide featuring parsley. It seems to blend in with fish, meat, beans, rice, sauces, soups and stews. It can be a substitute for celery and is an integral ingredient in tabouli, the national dish of Lebanon.
Parsley is a nutritional powerhouse. Dehydrated parsley also. Nibbling a few leaves while gardening is equivalent to your morning vitamin. It contains vitamins C, A and K, several important minerals plus antioxidants and flavonoids, in particular, flavones which are anti-inflammatory. Plus, you can rub parsley on a mosquito bite to inhibit the secretion of histamines thereby reducing itching. However, avoid parsley if pregnant.
In the garden, it is a useful companion plant for several vegetables, tomatoes in particular, because its scent deters tomato pests. Also, it attracts brachonid wasps which kill hornworms.
Parsley is preyed upon by the colorful larvae of swallowtail butterflies which will denude a parsley plant before becoming a butterfly. So the gardener has a tough choice – sacrifice the parsley to have more butterflies, or feed parsley worms to the birds. Charlemagne would have known healthy parsley plants easily regenerate after these incursions.