Persillade is a French mixture of finely chopped parsley and garlic, stirred into sautéed potatoes, mushrooms, snails and roasts at the end of cooking, sometimes bound with oil, butter or breadcrumbs.
What it is¶
Persillade (from persil, parsley) is the simplest seasoning in French cooking: flat-leaf parsley and garlic chopped together very finely. Depending on the dish it is used dry, scattered over food as it comes off the heat; tossed through hot fat so the garlic just loses its rawness; or bound with olive oil, butter or breadcrumbs. Anything described as à la persillade has been finished this way.
It sits in the same family as Italian gremolata, which adds lemon zest, and the cooked herb-and-garlic bases found across the Mediterranean.
Origins¶
Parsley and garlic have been paired in French cooking for as long as recipes have been written down, and persillade as a named preparation appears in French cookery from at least the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Its strongest home is the south-west — Périgord, Quercy and Gascony — where it goes into pommes de terre sarladaises (potatoes sautéed in duck or goose fat, from Sarlat) and over ceps fried in the same fat.
The classic beurre d'escargot of Burgundy, used to stuff snail shells, is persillade in butter with shallot, and jambon persillé, Burgundy's Easter terrine of ham set in parsleyed jelly, takes its name from the same idea.
What goes in it¶
| Component | Role |
|---|---|
| Flat-leaf parsley | The bulk; flat-leaf has more flavour than curly |
| Garlic | Pungency; roughly 1 clove to a small bunch |
| Olive oil, butter or duck fat (optional) | Carries the flavour when tossed through hot food |
| Shallot (optional) | Sweetness; standard in snail butter |
| Breadcrumbs (optional) | For a crust on roast lamb or tomatoes à la provençale |
Flavour¶
Fresh, green and garlicky. Raw, persillade is sharp; flashed through hot fat for a few seconds it turns sweet and nutty, which is the effect wanted on potatoes and mushrooms. Cooked any longer, the garlic browns and turns bitter, and the parsley loses its colour — the single most common mistake with it.
How to use it¶
- Pommes sarladaises: sliced potatoes fried in duck fat, with persillade tossed through in the final minute.
- Mushrooms: ceps, girolles or ordinary chestnut mushrooms sautéed in butter, finished with persillade.
- Escargots and frogs' legs: persillade butter.
- Roast lamb: a crust of breadcrumbs, persillade and a little oil pressed on to a rack of lamb for the last minutes of roasting.
- Tomatoes à la provençale: halved tomatoes topped with persillade and crumbs and baked.
- Fish and shellfish: mussels, clams, sautéed squid and prawns.
💡 The last minute
Add persillade to the pan only after the heat is turned down or off, and toss for 20–30 seconds. The residual heat is enough to take the edge off the garlic.
Making it at home¶
About 6 tbsp (enough for potatoes for 4) · 5 minutes
You need
- A large bunch flat-leaf parsley (about 30 g leaves), dried well
- 2 garlic cloves
- Optional binding: 2 tbsp olive oil, or 40 g soft butter, or 30 g fresh breadcrumbs
- A pinch of salt
Method
- Chop the garlic finely with the pinch of salt, which helps it break down.
- Add the parsley and chop both together until very fine and evenly mixed.
- Use dry, or stir into the oil, butter or crumbs depending on the dish.
- For persillade butter, mash the mixture into softened butter with a finely chopped shallot, roll in baking paper and chill or freeze.
Variations¶
- Persillade à l'huile: loosened with olive oil into a thin sauce for grilled meat and fish.
- Beurre d'escargot / beurre maître d'hôtel: persillade in butter (snail butter adds shallot; maître d'hôtel butter is parsley and lemon juice, usually without garlic).
- Breadcrumb persillade: for gratins and crusts.
- With other herbs: a little chervil, chives or tarragon in the manner of fines herbes.
- Relatives: gremolata (with lemon zest), salsa verde and chimichurri (with acid and oil).
Buying and storing¶
Persillade is best made and used immediately. Dry persillade keeps a day, covered, in the fridge. Persillade in oil should always be refrigerated and used within a few days, because raw garlic under oil carries a small botulism risk if left warm. Persillade butter, by contrast, freezes well for up to 3 months and can be sliced straight from the freezer.