This site uses only a few technical cookies necessary for its operation. By continuing to browse, you accept their use.
To find out more...
To find out more...
Parsley stems
Parsley, whether curly or flat, is a delicious ingredient in many recipes, where it is used both raw and cooked.
When used raw, in a salad for example, where it always provides, alone or with other herbs, a remarkable freshness, only the leaves are kept.
And when used cooked?
When used raw, in a salad for example, where it always provides, alone or with other herbs, a remarkable freshness, only the leaves are kept.
And when used cooked?
Last modified on: July 28th 2025
Parsley stems
Parsley, unlike chives, for example, can be used both raw and cooked, but when cooking, don't neglect the stems, also known as "tails".
It's not obvious at first glance, but much of parsley's flavour is in the stems, so it's a good idea to put them in your saucepan for cooking.
Let's take a recipe for mussels marinière as an example: heat a base of dry white wine with onion and parsley, and open the mussels (I'm oversimplifying).
Well, the big difference here is that the recipe uses the whole parsley, not just the leaves, because parsley tails are just as, if not more, important than the leaves when cooking. You can't eat them, but they add a lot to the taste, so you have to read "whole parsley sprigs (leaves + stems)" in the recipe, even if it says "parsley" in the list of ingredients, because it's very important for the recipe.
As they can't be eaten, it's a good idea to tie them with string into small bunches for easy removal at the end of cooking.
As a general rule, when a recipe calls for whole parsley, we often indicate "parsley sprig" instead of "parsley".
If you ever come across an old cookery book (before 1960/50, roughly speaking), you'll see that it's not uncommon to find recipes with "parsley tails" as an ingredient, mainly sauces in fact.
And parsley is one of the essential ingredients in the famous bouquet garni I've already told you about.
To sum up: for a recipe using cooked parsley, it's essential to use the whole sprig, leaves + stems.
It's not obvious at first glance, but much of parsley's flavour is in the stems, so it's a good idea to put them in your saucepan for cooking.
Let's take a recipe for mussels marinière as an example: heat a base of dry white wine with onion and parsley, and open the mussels (I'm oversimplifying).Well, the big difference here is that the recipe uses the whole parsley, not just the leaves, because parsley tails are just as, if not more, important than the leaves when cooking. You can't eat them, but they add a lot to the taste, so you have to read "whole parsley sprigs (leaves + stems)" in the recipe, even if it says "parsley" in the list of ingredients, because it's very important for the recipe.
As they can't be eaten, it's a good idea to tie them with string into small bunches for easy removal at the end of cooking.
As a general rule, when a recipe calls for whole parsley, we often indicate "parsley sprig" instead of "parsley".
If you ever come across an old cookery book (before 1960/50, roughly speaking), you'll see that it's not uncommon to find recipes with "parsley tails" as an ingredient, mainly sauces in fact.
And parsley is one of the essential ingredients in the famous bouquet garni I've already told you about.
To sum up: for a recipe using cooked parsley, it's essential to use the whole sprig, leaves + stems.
Lasts posts
XO Cognac Explained: Meaning, Aging, and Flavor Profile
XO Cognac always goes beyond the labels on the bottle: it is often associated with tradition and quality. You get to appreciate the artistry, character and ageing process when you understand what defines this smooth Cognac. The section below tackles everything about XO Cognac, from complex flavour...January 28th 202629 Sponsored article
Butter vs. grease
We often read in a recipe where a pastry is put into a mould that, just before pouring, the mould should be buttered or greased. But what's the difference between these 2 terms?December 1st 20252,2575
Getting out of the fridge early
Very often when you're cooking, you need to take food or preparations out of the fridge, to use them in the recipe in progress. There's nothing tricky about this: you just take them out of the fridge and use them, usually immediately, in the recipe. But is this really a good method?November 24th 20251,4885
Who's making the croissants?
When you look at a bakery from the outside, you naturally think that in the bakery, the bakers make the bread, and in the laboratory, the pastry chefs make the cakes. It's very often like that, with each of these professions having quite different ways of working, but sometimes there's also one...November 23th 20251,357
Oven height
When we put a dish or cake in the oven, we naturally tend to put it on the middle shelf, and that's what we usually do. But in some cases, this position and height can be a little tricky, so let's find out why.October 8th 20254,2325
Other pages you may also like
Add a bay leaf
Bay leaf: small in size, but big in flavor. You'll find it in hundreds of recipes, and it's often added to cooking meat, in a sauce or broth, usually accompanied by other herbs or products. It's a staple of Provençal, Mediterranean and Oriental cuisine, but not the only one. Usually, in a...July 31th 20256,2625
Candied fruits: don't get ripped off
Do you like candied fruit? You might like to nibble a handful or add it to a recipe, like a classic fruit cake or delicious Italian specialities like panettone or sicilian epiphany pie.June 21th 201769 K 24.2
A drizzle of olive oil
Often in a recipe, you have to "baste" vegetables, for example, before sending them to the oven. What the author means by this is that you need to put oil on top of the vegetables to cook them in the oven. Typically, we just quickly drizzle oil over the vegetables, hoping not to miss any, but...July 13th 20256,5054
A few tips for effective kneading at home
When you have to knead dough for bread or some other recipe, you may well use a food processor or the type of machine known as a stand mixer. The best-known brands are Kenwood and KitchenAid. They are useful tools, but here are a few tips to help you get the best out of them.June 23th 2021285 K 23.8
Tranché, dissociated, failed, in short... missed!
When preparing a sauce or a cream, there's always a (small) risk that the creamy preparation you're working on will suddenly separate into two parts of different textures: a liquid part, for example, and a more or less solid part, or even become lumpy. It's terribly frustrating, but we'll see...June 19th 202313 K5
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.
The 1 comment already posted on this page
Thank you.