Food glossary

Parsley

Parsley

One of the most popular herbs, traditional curly parsley adds a mild, fresh flavour to almost any savoury dish. The stalks contain a lot of the flavour, so don't discard them, but chop and include in recipes too.

Uses: In soups, casseroles, stews, sauce and particularly with fish and in stuffings. Parsley is used in many garnishes and finishing touches to dishes - an Italian gremolata is finely chopped parsley combined with lemon zest used to sprinkle over meat or fish dishes. Chopped parsley can be combined with garlic and butter to spread on warm bread or top cooked steaks.

To prepare: Simply chop and wash the leaves and stalks before adding to dishes at the end of the cooking time. If you have any extra parsley it freezes well - place the chopped leaves in ice cube trays and then top up with water and freeze. To use simply either remove from the freezer and place the required number of cubes in a sieve (the ice will melt and you'll be left with chopped parsley) or add the cubes directly into stews, casseroles or sauces.

Flat parsley

Similar in appearance to coriander, flat, French or continental parsley as it is also known has a stronger flavour than traditional curly parsley. Flat parsley has a slightly more exotic appearance for garnishing than curly parsley.

Uses: As for curly parsley but it keeps it flavour better than curly parsley during cooking so is a better choice to include in cooked dishes. Stir 1 tbsp of chopped fresh leaf parsley into cooked vegetables just before serving or add to white sauces and dips to add colour and flavour.