T'is the Season for Chervil

I love growing herbs in the garden and one of the best herbs at this time of year is Chervil which is wonderfully easy to cultivate. For some reason it is not particularly well known in England, but it is very popular in France where it is known as Cerfeuil. Chervil is one of the earliest herbs to come into season and you will have it available before Easter in most years. In fact it used to be traditional to eat it on Maundy Thursday and it was meant to have cleansing and restorative properties.

As I have already mentioned, it is easy to grow and is best in semi-shade as too much sun will bring it into flower too soon and it will lose some flavour. It doesn’t grow well in doors.



Easter Monday Chervil and Vegetable Soup with Croutons



We use it in salads, sprinkled over vegetables and also I like adding it in huge quantities to vegetable soup – add it at the very end just before serving so as not to lose flavour. In some ways it is like parsley but it is more delicate but with a stronger aniseed flavour, and so you can use it as a substitute for parsley in many recipes. As it has an aniseed flavour you might also want to sprinkle it over some simple grilled fish or make a Chervil sauce it much the same way you would make a Parsley sauce.

As this is a wine blog I better not forget wine pairings – most white wines pair well with Chervil flavoured dishes such as Chervil and vegetable soup– Sauvignon Blanc, dry Riesling or if you prefer something slightly sweeter a Pinot Grigio.

If you don’t know Chervil do go out and buy some seeds and have fun growing and then eating some!