category: food/groceries: vegetables: root vegetables

Parsley root, hamburger parsley, bot.: Petroselinum crispum convar. radicosum, de.: Petersilienwurzel, Wurzelpetersilie, fr.: persil racine

Parsley roots belong to the botanical parsley family (bot.: Umbelliferae, Apiaceae) and are root vegetables. They originate in the South East Mediterranean and have a sharp, astringent taste that is often used for clear soups and broths (for example when starting hare or roe essences). The white root vegetable can also be used for purees or cream soups. As a vegetable side dish it is especially tasty when glazed with honeydew honey and seasoned to taste with white wine vinegar. Parsley root is a typical winter vegetable and starts to come to the stores and markets in October. The leafs of the plant can be used as those of flat leaf parsley.

Parsley roots are almost unknown in Great Britain and the United States but an important ingredient in many Central and Eastern European soups and stews.