canadensis), whose mild, large leaves are used by the Japanese in soups and salads They’re flavored mainly by a mixture of minor, woody-resinous terpenes (germacrene, selinene, farnesene, elemene) Parsley Parsley is a native of southeast Europe and west Asia; its name comes from the Greek and means “rock celery.” Petroselinum crispum is one of the most important herbs in European cooking, perhaps because its distinctive flavor (from menthatriene) is accompanied by fresh, green, woody notes that are somewhat generic and therefore complement many foods When parsley is chopped, its distinctive note fades, the green notes become dominant, and a faintly fruity note develops There are both curly-and flat-leaf varieties with different characteristics; the flat leaves have a strong parsley flavor when young and later develop a woody note, while curly leaves start out mild and woody and develop the parsley character when more mature The curly leaves are smaller and more incised and therefore crisp faster when fried Saw-Leaf Herb Saw-leaf herb or culantro is the New World’s version of coriander leaf (cilantro), still used in the Caribbean but now most commonly found in Asian cooking There are more than a hundred species of Eryngium, some of them in Europe, but E foetidum comes from subtropical South America, and is easier to grow in hot climates Culantro has almost the same flavor as fresh coriander leaf, the main aromatic component being a slightly longer fatty aldehyde than coriander’s (dodecanal) Its leaves are large and elongated, with a serrated edge, and thicker and tougher than coriander leaves They’re frequently used in Vietnamese dishes, often torn and strewn on just before eating The Laurel Family ... World’s version of coriander leaf (cilantro), still used in the Caribbean but now most commonly found in Asian cooking There are more than a hundred species of Eryngium, some of them in Europe,... are large and elongated, with a serrated edge, and thicker and tougher than coriander leaves They’re frequently used in Vietnamese dishes, often torn and strewn on just before eating The Laurel Family... America, and is easier to grow in hot climates Culantro has almost the same flavor as fresh coriander leaf, the main aromatic component being a slightly longer fatty aldehyde than coriander’s (dodecanal)