Tuberous-rooted chervil (Chaerophyllum bulbosum) is one of the iconic plants in the Carpathian basin regarding ethnobotany. It is considered native to this region and it is known by about one hundred different Hungarian folk names and allophones. We have plenty of historical data about its gathering from the wild from the end of the 16th century, but certainly, it could have been collected much earlier by the people who lived here. In the whole Carpathian basin, mostly its tubers (and rarely the leaves as well) were gathered mainly by children, which were eaten in various forms and dishes, but most frequently raw as salad. Its popularity started to decline by the end of the 19th century, and in the middle of the 20th century, it was regarded as one of the ‘beets out of fashion’, which was slowly disappearing from the diet. From the 21st century, there is only one record about its gathering and consumption from Transylvania. In former times, along with other Chaerophyllum and Anthriscus species it was recommended to cure scorbute and diarrhoea and as a poultice for ulcers. In the Middle Ages, it was cultivated throughout Eastern and Central Europe, which could have also been true for the Carpathian Basin. Master Roger mentioned this species among the plants of devastated peasant gardens (1243, after the Mongol invasion). Thereafter, we have records only from the middle of the 19th century showing the obvious growing of its cultivated variety (called ‘chervil-beet’). However, its cultivation remained quite sporadic, and by the middle of the 20th century, it was already fully neglected. The plant occurred in Hungarian cookery books from the 16th century, especially in Transylvanian gastronomy. The remembrance of its former folk uses retained in Hungarian culture as well, it emerges in several poems and prose.

Tuberous-rooted chervil (Chaerophyllum bulbosum) is one of the iconic plants in the Carpathian basin regarding ethnobotany. It is considered native to this region and it is known by about one hundred different Hungarian folk names and allophones. We have plenty of historical data about its gathering from the wild from the end of the 16th century, but certainly, it could have been collected much earlier by the people who lived here. In the whole Carpathian basin, mostly its tubers (and rarely the leaves as well) were gathered mainly by children, which were eaten in various forms and dishes, but most frequently raw as salad. Its popularity started to decline by the end of the 19th century, and in the middle of the 20th century, it was regarded as one of the ‘beets out of fashion’, which was slowly disappearing from the diet. From the 21st century, there is only one record about its gathering and consumption from Transylvania. In former times, along with other Chaerophyllum and Anthriscus species it was recommended to cure scorbute and diarrhoea and as a poultice for ulcers. In the Middle Ages, it was cultivated throughout Eastern and Central Europe, which could have also been true for the Carpathian Basin. Master Roger mentioned this species among the plants of devastated peasant gardens (1243, after the Mongol invasion). Thereafter, we have records only from the middle of the 19th century showing the obvious growing of its cultivated variety (called ‘chervil-beet’). However, its cultivation remained quite sporadic, and by the middle of the 20th century, it was already fully neglected. The plant occurred in Hungarian cookery books from the 16th century, especially in Transylvanian gastronomy. The remembrance of its former folk uses retained in Hungarian culture as well, it emerges in several poems and prose.