Ingredient

Fantastic Fennel

This versatile ingredient is perfect in salad, roasted and can even be used to make tea

BY MEREDITH OECHLER

Meet fennel: the carrot’s underrated, Mediterranean cousin. Its dill-like leaves are often used as a bittersweet garnish, but its bulb—the crunchy, celery-like and onion-shaped orb at its base—is full of flavor and has a variety of uses.

Due to its Mediterranean origins, fennel is extremely popular in Italian cookery. It’s also known as Florence fennel, “finocchio” or sweet fennel. Fennel is low in calories but high in fiber, vitamin C, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium and manganese. Fennel also has a long history of use as a digestive aid and fennel seeds have often been eaten throughout religious fasts to stave off hunger.

Fennel plants grow in the wild, and can often be found in locations such as California and Australia, where the plant grows so abundantly it’s been labeled a noxious weed. In the present day, the plant has become naturalized in northern Europe and North America too, but most commercial fennel seed in the United States is imported from Egypt.

In other regions, fennel holds more than just a culinary significance. It was used by ancient Egyptians and Chinese as both a food and medicine, and during the Middle Ages, it was hung over doorways to drive away evil spirits.

Raw Fennel

With similar flavors to anise, celery and licorice, raw fennel is great in salads. Marinate it in lemon juice, olive oil and salt, and sprinkle it over kale or arugula with some creamy fats like avocado or pesto. (Check out the salad with fennel in the Date Night Dinner feature on page 20.)

Cooked Fennel

Fennel gets sweeter when the temperature goes up. It caramelizes when cooked, browning at the edges and gaining a sweeter flavor as well as losing its crunch, creating a melt-in-your-mouth texture. Roasted fennel pairs beautifully with chicken or fish. It also adds a wonderful sweetness to the spice blend for a classic Italian porchetta roast, which should also include fennel seeds and fresh fronds.

Fennel Fronds

People almost always buy fennel to use the bulb, but don’t waste the opportunity to add tons of fresh flavor to your salads and dressing with the fronds. Cut off the tiniest, most delicate parts of the fronds, chop them up finely like you would dill or any fresh herb, and add them by the handful to any of your fennel recipes. Or do like the Italians do, and scatter a butterflied pork shoulder with the fresh fronds before rolling it up, tying it with twine and roasting.

Fennel Seeds

In addition to being a versatile spice in Mediterranean cooking, fennel seeds can also be dried and used to make a potent and strong-smelling tea. The tea holds some of raw fennel’s natural licorice taste along with a relaxing scent and barely bitter aftertaste. Unwind at the end of your day with a steaming cup of fennel tea. n