Parsley or Petroselinum crispum.

One of my favourite songs from Simon and Garfunkel, Scarbourough Fair with it's lyric going, "parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme..." famously named the four most popular herbs used.

My favourites too! Especially, for making the one-pot wonder, the stew, either with meat or vegetarian with lots of onions, garlic, mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, and peas! And don't forget the herbs ...all four please. I normally use the dried herbs to stew with, and add fresh parsley just as the whole dish is cooked or right before serving.

Wonderful with either bread or rice - a truly versatile dish! I can also cook it spicy with some chilly and paprika. Cook it with safron and some curry powder, it turns into a very eastern dish! Truly handy when you have that potluck to go to but so little time to prepare. Great to whip up in a short time after a long and tiring day at work. Let the whole thing cook while you take a refreshing soak in the tub!

Anyway, what prompted this is the few similar emails i have received recently on the wonders of parsley.

The email reads,

"Years pass by and our kidneys are filtering the blood by removing salt, poison and any unwanted entering our body. With time, the salt accumulates and this needs to undergo cleaning treatments."

"How are we going to do this? It is very easy, first take a bunch of parsley and wash it clean."

"Then cut it in small pieces and put it in a pot and pour clean water and boil it for ten minutes and let it cool down and then filter it and pour in a clean bottle and keep it inside refrigerator to cool."

"Drink one glass daily and you will notice all salt and other accumulated poison coming out of your kidney by urination. Also you will be able to notice the difference which you never felt before."

"Parsley is known as best cleaning treatment for kidneys and it is natural!"

This has prompted me to google "parsley" to find out more about what it really is. Loads of information as usual. Reading from the many websites, I do not doubt what is suggested by the email above.

Aside from what was described in the email i received, the parsley is known through time for its many properties to cure digestive disorder, bronchitis, and as general tonic. It was also used together with other ingredients to relieve kidney and bladder stones.

I got more curious when a friend asked me about the differences in parsley and chinese parsley. representatively, parsley is as in the picture above with a its smaller curlier leaves. The leaves are also more compact. The chinese parsley, on the other hand, is the other bunch with bigger leaves. There is a distinct difference between the two, in texture and in flavour. Texture wise, parsley is bite-ier (in lack of a word i can think of) but less 'pungent' as some people describes it. I love the taste and don't mind loads of it.

Chinese parsley is definitely stronger in taste and goes well with soup or meat and potato dishes. It is also known as coriander leaves or cilantro (aha!).

Another interesting fact is that corianders are the fruits harvested from mature plants. Apparently, plants are grown differently for its leaves and fruits.

The parsley interestingly has come from a rather unglamorous beginning in the days of the ancient Greek, when the herb was sprinkled on corpses to mask the smell. These days it is considered as rather 'pedestrian' as described by www.theepicentre.com, relegated to being garnishing and such.

However, i absolutely enjoy the simple parsley in every way. A simple way to dress up some plain rice is to add freshly chopped parsley into freshly cooked rice, with a little fried garlic and oil to boot. Quite 'glam' if I may add, to one's buffet spread for parties.

There are also interesting recipes and videos of cooking with parsley in Answers.com. Do have a peek.

Storage:

I found storing this a tad difficult, as the leaves wilt all too easily. However, it does keep longer either freshly cut n put into a jar of water, or cleaned, washed and dried before keeping the leaves in its stalks wrapped in paper towel in the fridge.

Links:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsley

2. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-cilantro.htm

3. http://www.answers.com/topic/parsley

4. http://www.theepicentre.com/Spices/parsley.html