Fennel

Today we associate fennel with Italian cuisine in particular. Its mild, slightly sweet flavour is reminiscent of anise or liquorice, which is why it is sometimes erroneously labelled anise or dill. The base of the fennel plant is composed of overlapping leaves growing out of a pale-green or whitish fleshy bulb and surmounted by several robust, slightly striated pale-green stalks.

The stalks of sweet fennel can grow up to 2 metres high. They have many long, thin, feathery leaves that are dark green in colour and supported by tiny stems. The plants small yellow umbellate flowers each produce two elongated ribbed seeds that are pale green in colour.

History

A vegetable originating from the Mediterranean region, fennel is a hardy perennial when grown in favourable climates and soils, and a biennial in less suitable conditions. The varieties of this vegetable include sweet fennel and Florence fennel. It has been used as a vegetable, a herb and a medicinal plant since ancient times, and was particularly valued by the Greeks and Romans. In Latin, the word "fennel" means, "little hay," while in Greek it was named "marathon," after the battle site of the Greek victory over the Persians.

Indeed, the ancient Greeks regarded fennel as a symbol of victory and success. Fennel occupied an important place in the diet of the Romans, who used it mainly as a vegetable and who believed that it had the ability to sharpen eyesight. It is still widely enjoyed in Italy and Scandinavia, where it is cooked and served in the same way as asparagus.

Nutritional Value

Raw fennel is an excellent source of potassium; it contains vitamin C, folic acid, magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus. Fennel is thought to have the properties of a diuretic, an antispasmodic, and a stimulant. It is also said to soothe gastric pain, to aid the digestion of fatty or indigestible foods, to stimulate the appetite, to cleanse the system and to prevent flatulence. The essential oil extracted from fennel contains anethole, a substance that is also present in anise; hence the similarity in flavour.

Storage

Choose fennel that is firm, rounded, fragrant, white, and unblemished, with healthy stalks. The stems, which are sometimes sold separately as an aromatic herb should be fresh and of a healthy green colour.

Preparing

Fennel will keep in the refrigerator for about a week, but it has a tendency to become stringy and to lose flavour as it ages. It may be frozen if blanched first, but this tends to diminish its flavour significantly. The leaves dry best if placed in a microwave for 30 seconds to 2 minutes.

Cooking

Fennel may be used raw or cooked once the tough outer leaves have been removed. Cook fennel as little as possible in order to preserve its flavour. Fennel is delicious with cream or yoghurt raw; it may be cut in slices or long thin strips and added to salads. Fennel can also be blanched and then braised, or sauteed with other vegetables or on its own. It is good cooked in cream, au gratin, or grilled and served with lemon. Like celery, fennel is a versatile vegetable, and its anise-like flavour makes it every more delicious.

Using

The bulb, foliage, and seeds of the fennel plant are widely used in many of the culinary traditions of the world. Fennel pollen is the most potent form of fennel, but also the most expensive. Dried fennel seed is an aromatic, anise-flavoured spice, brown or green in colour when fresh, slowly turning a dull grey as the seed ages. For cooking, green seeds are optimal. The leaves are delicately flavored and similar in shape to those of dill. The bulb is a crisp, hardy root vegetable and may be sauteed, stewed, braised, grilled, or eaten raw.

Fennel seeds are sometimes confused with those of anise, which are very similar in taste and appearance, though smaller. In India, it is common to chew fennel seed (or saunf) as a mouth-freshener. Fennel is also used as a flavouring in some natural toothpaste. Some people employ it as a diuretic. Others use it to improve the milk supply of breastfeeding mothers, but it has shown neurotoxicity in certain cases where the mother ingested it as an herbal tea to enhance her breast milk.

Fennel is most prominently featured in Italian cuisine, where bulbs and fronds appears both raw and cooked in side dishes, salads, pastas, and risottos. Fennel seed is a common ingredient in Italian sausages and meatballs and northern European rye breads.

Many cultures in the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East incorporate fennel seed into their culinary traditions. It is an essential ingredient in the Bengali/Oriya spice mixture panch phoron and in Chinese five-spice powders. It is known as saunf or mauti saunf in Hindi and Urdu, mouri in Bengali, shombu or peruncheeragam in Tamil language and Malayalam language, variyali in Gujarati, badeeshop or badeeshep in Marathi and barishap in the Malay language.

Many egg, fish, and other dishes employ fresh or dried fennel leaves. Florence fennel is a key ingredient in some Italian and German salads, often tossed with chicory and avocado, or it can be braised and served as a warm side dish. It may be blanched or marinated, or cooked in risotto. In all cases, the leaves lend their characteristically mild, anise-like flavour.

Fennel also complements other vegetables and legumes, as well as rabbit, pork, lamb, beet, fish and seafood. Sea bass accompanied by fennel is a regional specialty in Provence, France. Fennel seeds are used to flavour cheese, bread, soups, sauces, pastries and wine.

The leaves are traditionally associated with fish, but they may also be used as a herb in numerous other dishes. Fennels essential oil is used in the making of wine and spirits and in perfume.