Parsley is a small green herb with fresh, slightly peppery leaves. Cooks chop it into soup, salad, fish, potatoes, and sauce, or put a little on top of a finished dish so the plate looks bright. There are two common kinds. One has tight curly leaves; restaurants often use that kind as decoration, and students sometimes think it is only for looks. The other has flat leaves; many cooks say that kind has more taste. Both are real food. You use a small amount: it is a flavour and a finishing green, not a vegetable you cook as the main thing. Though actually, the curly bunch on a steak in a Taiwan restaurant may have done almost no cooking work at all; it is still parsley, not plastic, and not 香菜. Flat-leaf parsley can look a little like coriander to a hurried eye, but the smell is milder and the taste is different. It is an everyday kitchen word in English, not a fancy one.