Parsley - Parsley (English spelling) parsely

Japanese: パセリ - ぱせり（英語表記）parsely

It is a biennial plant of the Umbelliferae family (APG classification: Umbelliferae). It is native to the gravelly lands from southeastern Europe to the northern coast of Africa. It has been recorded in Greece from the 4th to 3rd centuries BC, and has been cultivated for a long time. In Greek and Roman times, it was used as a medicine and flavoring, but from the 2nd to 3rd centuries AD, it began to be used as a vegetable. It was introduced from Italy to France in the 9th century, to Northern Europe in the 13th century, and spread to England in the 16th century. It was introduced to America in the early 19th century. It was first introduced to Japan by the Dutch during the Edo period, and was given the Japanese name Dutch Zeri, but it was not fully introduced until the early Meiji period, when it was first used as a garnish for Western dishes, and it was not until World War II that it began to be eaten in cooking other than as a garnish.

The entire plant is hairless and has a distinctive fragrance. The leaves are tripinnately compound and dark green (see the "compound leaves" section for leaf morphology). Seeds are sown in a seedbed in spring or autumn, and after planting, the basal leaves that appear in autumn or spring are successively removed and harvested several times. The stems grow to about 50 cm in the second year after sowing, and small yellow-green flowers bloom. It is cold-resistant and does not require any particular soil type, so it is grown in home gardens and on verandas. It is often grown economically in Chiba, Nagano, and Shizuoka prefectures. There are crinkled and round-leaf varieties, and varieties with soft, uncrinkled leaves are suitable for cooking, but in Japan, dark green crinkled-leaf varieties are preferred.

[Hoshikawa Kiyochika December 14, 2021]

Food

The leaves and stems have a refreshing fragrance and a slightly peculiar taste, and parsley has been used as a flavoring vegetable in Europe since ancient times. Fresh parsley is often served as a garnish for meat dishes to add color, but it also has the effect of softening the breath, so it is good to eat it at the end of a meal. Chopped parsley can be sprinkled on or used in cooking to enhance the flavor. It is used as a flavoring in soups, salads, fish dishes, meat dishes, and sauces. Dried parsley flakes can be sprinkled on most dishes. It is high in calcium, phosphorus, iron, potassium, carotene, and vitamin C.

[Hiroshi Saito December 14, 2021]

Cultural history

Of the four great festival games held in ancient Greece, the winners of the Nemean Games, dedicated to Zeus, and the Isthmian Games, dedicated to the sea god Poseidon, were crowned with parsley or celery. The flower language of parsley, meaning victory, feast, and holiday, is related to this. On the other hand, since it was dedicated to Persephone, the queen of the underworld, it was also used in funerals, and some ancient Greeks considered it to be ominous. It was also used medicinally, and Dioscorides wrote in his "De Materia Medica" (1st century) that the seeds and roots had a diuretic effect and were effective against stomach ailments. Parsley is characterized by its curly leaves, and the Greek Theophrastus mentioned it in the 4th century BC.

In Japan, Kaibara Ekiken recorded it in the Edo period under the name of Dutch water parsley, but it didn't become widespread until the latter half of the Meiji period, when Kida Motojiro of Ginza's "Rengatei," who invented tonkatsu, started serving it with pork cutlets. On the other hand, because of this, while it is often chopped up and added to soup in the West, in Japan it is mainly eaten raw or as a decoration.

[Hiroshi Yuasa December 14, 2021]

[Reference] | Biplane

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

セリ科（APG分類：セリ科）の二年草。ヨーロッパ南東部からアフリカ北岸一帯の砂礫(されき)地の原産。紀元前4～前3世紀のギリシアで記録があり、栽培は古く、ギリシア・ローマ時代は薬用、香味料であったが、紀元後2～3世紀から野菜としても使われるようになった。9世紀にイタリアからフランスに、13世紀に北ヨーロッパに伝わり、16世紀にはイギリスへと広まった。アメリカには19世紀初めに伝わった。日本へは江戸時代にオランダ人が初めて伝え、オランダゼリの和名がついたが、本格的導入は明治初年以降で、初めは洋食の飾りとして使われ、つま以外に料理用として食べられるようになったのは第二次世界大戦以降である。

　全草無毛で特有の香りがある。葉は3出羽状複葉で濃緑色を呈する（葉の形態については「複葉」の項を参照）。春または秋に苗床に種子を播(ま)き、定植後、秋または春に出る根出葉を順次かき取り、数回にわたって収穫する。種子を播いて2年目から茎が伸びて50センチメートルほどになり、黄緑色の小花を開く。寒さに強く、土質も選ばないので家庭菜園やベランダ園芸でも栽培される。経済栽培としては、千葉・長野・静岡県などに多い。縮み葉系と丸葉系があり、料理用には縮みのない柔らかい葉の品種が適しているが、日本では緑色の濃い、縮み葉のものが好まれる。

［星川清親　2021年12月14日］

食品

葉茎に爽快(そうかい)な芳香と、ややくせのある味があり、ヨーロッパでは古くから香味野菜として用いられてきた。なまのパセリは肉料理の付け合せに彩りとして添えられるが、口臭を柔らげる働きがあるので食事の最後に食べるのもよい。刻みパセリは料理にふりかけたり調理に用いて風味を引き立てる。スープ、サラダ、魚料理、肉料理、ソースに香味料として使われる。乾燥したパセリフレークはほとんどの料理にふりかけてよい。カルシウム、リン、鉄、カリウム、カロチン、ビタミンCなどを多く含んでいる。

［齋藤　浩　2021年12月14日］

文化史

古代ギリシアで開かれていた四大祭典競技のうち、ゼウスを祭るネメア競技と海神ポセイドンを祭るイストミア競技では、勝利者をパセリやセロリの冠でたたえた。パセリの花言葉の勝利、祝宴、祝日はそれにちなむ。一方、冥界(めいかい)の女王ペルセフォネに捧(ささ)げたことから葬祭にも使われ、ひいては不吉とする見方も古代ギリシアにあった。薬用にもなり、ディオスコリデスは『薬物誌』（1世紀）で、種子や根には利尿作用があり、胃病にも効くと記述した。パセリは縮れた葉が特徴だが、すでにギリシアのテオフラストスが紀元前4世紀にそれに触れている。

　日本では貝原益軒がオランダゼリの名で江戸時代に記録しているが、普及したのは明治後半以降で、とんかつを考案した銀座「煉瓦亭(れんがてい)」の木田元次郎(きだもとじろう)がとんかつに添えたのが影響している。一方、このために、欧米では刻んでスープに入れる利用が多いのに、日本では生食や飾りが主流となった。

［湯浅浩史　2021年12月14日］

[参照項目] | 複葉

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