Chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium [L.] Hoffm.)

bot	Cherifolium cerefolium
Arabic	مقدونس آفرنجي, مقدونس فرنجي
	مَقْدُونِسٌ إفْرَنْجِي, مَقْدُونِسٌ فْرَنْج
	Maqdunis afranji, Maqdunis franji
Basque	Apo perexil
Bulgarian	Азмацуг балдаранолистен, Азмацук обикновен, Див керевиз
	Azmatsug baldaranolisten, Div kereviz, Azmatsuk obiknoven
Catalan	Cerfull
Chinese (Cantonese)	山蘿蔔 [sāan lòh baahk], 西洋峨參 [sāi yèuhng ngòh sàm], 細葉芹 [sai yihp kàhn]
	Saan loh baahk, Sai yeuhng ngoh sam, Sai yihp kahn
Chinese (Mandarin)	山蘿蔔 [shān luó bo], 西洋峨參 [xī yáng é cān], 細葉芹 [xì yè qín], 茴芹 [huí qín]
	Shan luo bo, Shan lo po, Xi yang e can, Xi ye qin, Hui qin
Croatian	Krasuljica, Krbuljica
Czech	Kerblík třebule
Danish	Kørvel
Dutch	Kervel
English	Garden chervil, French parsley
Esperanto	Cerefolio
Finnish	Kirveli, Maustekirveli
French	Cerfeuil
Estonian	Aed-harakputk, Harakputk
Gaelic	Costag
German	Kerbel, Gartenkerbel, Französische Petersilie
Greek	Ανθρίσκος, Σκαντζίκι, Φραγκομαϊντανός
	Anthriskos, Skantziki, Frankomaintanos
Hungarian	Turbolya, Zamatos turbolya
Icelandic	Kerfill
Italian	Cerfoglio
Japanese	シャク, チャービル, チャーヴィル
	Chabiru, Chaviru, Shiyaku
Korean	차빌, 챠빌, 쳐빌
	Chabil, Chyabil, Chyeobil, Chyobil
Latvian	Lapu kārvele
Lithuanian	Daržinis builis
Norwegian	Kjørvel, Hagekjørvel
Polish	Trybula ogrodowa
Portuguese	Cerefólio, Cerefolho
Provençal	Cerfuei, Cherfuei
Romanian	Asmățui (Asmăţui), Hasmațuchi (Hasmaţuchi)
Russian	Кервель
	Kervel
Slovak	Trebuľka voňavá, Trebuľka
Slovenian	Vrtna krebuljica
Spanish	Perifollo, Cerafolio
Swedish	Körvel, Dansk körvel, Trädgårdskörvel
Turkish	Frenk maydanoz, Frenkmayıdanozu
Vietnamese	Hồi cần
	Hoi can

Chervil flower cluster and unripe fruits

Chervil leaf

Leaves. They are nearly always used fresh, but can be preserved by deep-freezing or by making a pesto-like preparation (see basil).

Apiaceae (parsley family).

Sweet and aromatic, somewhat intermediate between parsley and anise. On other spices with a similar fragrance, see cicely.

The plant contains only minor amounts of essential oil (0.3% in the fresh herb, 0.9% in the seeds); it contains methylchavicol (estragole) and hendecane (undecane).

Probably Southern Europe or the Caucasus region. Chervil became known in the regions north of the Mediterranean by the edict of Charlemagne, Capitulare de villis (see lovage).

Chervil flower cluster with unripe fruits

Anthriskos [ἀνθρίσκος] (also anthriskon [ἄνθρισκον] or anthriskion [ἀνθρίσκιον]) is the Greek name of this plant; the species name cerefolium appears to mean “leaves like wax” and might refer to the bright green colour, but is more possibly a spelling mistake for cherifolium (Greek chairephyllon [χαιρεφύλλον]), the name the Romans used for this plant (Greek chairein [χαίρειν] “to delight in” and phyllon [φύλλον] “leaf”, referring to the pleasant aroma of the leaves).

Most names in the contemporary tongues of Western Europe derive from Latin cherifolium, e.g. English chervil, Swedish körvel, Portuguese cerefolho and French cerfeuil. Northern Europeans often call the plant more precisely as “garden chervil” (Norwegian hagekjørvel), because it is not indigenous and cannot survive in the wild.

Since chervil is used and known mostly in Western Europe, languages of other countries often have no native term for that herb, but use descriptive terms that relate chervil to a more widely known relative, parsley: Arabic maqdunis faranji [مقدونس فرنجي], Kurdish jafari farangi [جافةریی فةرةنگی], Greek frankomaintanos [φραγκομαϊντανός] and Turkish frenk maydanoz all mean “Frankish parsley”. Even in English, chervil is sometimes referred to as French parsley.

A Pinch of Chervil (www.apinchof.com) Herbs by Linda Gilbert: Chervil Desirable Herb and Spice Varieties: Chervil Pflanzen des Capitulare de Villis: Kerbel (biozac.de)