Persillade

Persillade is an incredibly versatile sauce or seasoning mix that combines chopped parsley with ingredients such as garlic, herbs, oil, and vinegar. It can be as simple as parsley and garlic or enhanced with additional herbs and spices. Depending on when you incorporate it into your cooking, it can impart either a subtle flavor or a pronounced garlic kick. Persillade features prominently in French, Greek, Cajun, Louisiana Creole, and Québécois cuisines.

A popular dish that showcases persillade is pommes persillade, which consists of cubed potatoes fried to perfection and then topped with this flavorful mix. In Quebec, you might encounter persillade blended with poutine, creating the delectable poutine persillade. In Louisiana, particularly in New Orleans, dishes like fried chicken with persillade are quite popular, thanks to chefs like Austin Leslie.

What’s remarkable about persillade is its adaptability. You can experiment with different herbs such as bay leaf, oregano, basil, or tarragon. Combine it with breadcrumbs for a crunchy crust on roasted meats, or add lemon zest to create gremolata, which is ideal for garnishing lamb shanks. In Provençal cuisine, anchovies are often incorporated, and a touch of olive oil makes it even more delicious and easier to use.