Foeniculum vulgare

This tall, hardy, proud perennial plant native to the Mediterranean region, now naturalized in many areas worldwide, is one of the oldest cultivated plants.

The Romans ate fennel as a vegetable, while the Chinese and Indians valued it as a spice and aid to digestion. In India today, fennel water is used to help soothe colic in babies.

Green fennel is a tall, erect plant with numerous small leaves. All parts of the fennel plant are edible; the root is no longer eaten, but the leaves, stems, and fruit (seeds) are used as a spice. Fennel's anise-like character comes from anethole, a component of its essential oils most concentrated in its seeds.

The stems have a mild flavor that persists when dried. The seeds have a stronger aroma than the leaves and a sweet-bitter taste in the mouth. Roasting the seeds in a pan before use brings out their sweetness. The color of the seeds varies from light brown to greenish-yellow, with the latter being of better quality. It's best to keep the seeds whole and grind them as needed. Only the young leaves are used in cooking; they have a milder taste and are best used freshly picked.

FLAVOR

The whole plant has a warm anise-sweet root aroma. The taste is similar: pleasantly fresh, slightly sweet with a hint of camphor. Fennel seed is less pungent than dill seed but more bitter than anise.

USED AS young leaves, flowers, pollen, stems, seeds.

BUYING AND STORAGE

In a plastic bag in the refrigerator, the leaves will last for 2-3 days. Stems can be freshly tied into bundles and hung to dry, then stored in a tightly closed container for up to 6 months. Seeds will last at least two years in a tightly closed container.

USED IN COOKING

In spring, fennel adds a fresh, vibrant note to salads and sauces. Fennel can also be used as a bed when roasting fatty fish.

Sicilians heavily used it with pasta and sardines, while in Provence, whole fish are roasted on a bed of fresh or dried fennel stalks, which give the fish a special aroma.

Fennel seeds can be used in pickling, soups, and bread – try mixing fennel seeds with black cumin to flavor bread as they do in Iraq. Greeks combine leaves or seeds, feta cheese, and olives to make richly spiced bread.

Fennel seed is one of the pillars of the five-spice blend commonly used in China for preparing meat and chicken.

Bengal in northeastern India also has its five-spice blend, panch phoron, with fennel as one of the ingredients. This mixture is used in preparing vegetables, legumes, and lentils. Elsewhere in India, fennel appears in garam masala blends, in spiced sauces with vegetables or lamb, and even in some sweet dishes.

Indians also eat fennel in sugar after meals as a breath freshener and aid to digestion.

IMPORTANT FOR five spice, panch phoron, garam masala.

GOOD WITH beans, beets, cabbage, cucumbers, duck, fish and seafood, leeks, lentils, pork, potatoes, rice, tomatoes.

COMBINES WELL WITH cinnamon, cumin, mint, black cumin, parsley, Sichuan pepper, thyme.