Chervil or French parsley, is a delicate annual herb related to parsley. It is sometimes called garden chervil to distinguish it from similar plants also called chervil. It is commonly used to season mild-flavored dishes and is a constituent of ‘fines herbes’ – the French herb mixture.

The plants grow to 40–70 cm with leaves that may be curly. The small white flowers form small umbels, 2.5–5 cm across. The fruit is about 1 cm long, oblong-ovoid with a slender, ridged beak.

“Gourmet’s parsley”, or chervil is used to season seafood, poultry and vegetables. It is particularly popular in France, where it is added to omelets, salads, and soups. More delicate than parsley, it has a faint taste of licorice or aniseed.

Chervil has been credited with several medicinal properties such as helping in digestion and lowering the blood pressure. It cures hiccups when infused with vinegar and is a mild stimulant.

It is similar in appearance to Hemlock to which it is related. A confusion between the two plants could cause death since Hemlock is highly toxic.

Regular harvesting of leaves helps to prevent bolting or the plant rapidly forming seeds. If plants bolt despite precautions, the plant can be periodically re-sown throughout the growing season, thus producing fresh plants as older plants bolt and go out of production.