Parsley

The parsley (krafus) used in Iraq is the flat-leafed variety. It is a well-known herb and needs no introduction. However, Iraqi cooks also use another variety of parsley, whose leaves are more delicate and fragrant. This is ma’danos (chervil), which cooks in other Arab countries call ba’dunis. Medieval Arab cooks used this delicate variety in their dishes, but less often than the regular parsley. In medieval Arabic cookbooks and books on botany, this herb was variously referred to as karafs jabali (mountain parsley), karafs sakhri (rock parsley), karafs maqdooni (Macedonian parsley), and maqdoonis.