Fennel
Fennel has become a woefully underused vegetable in Modern American cooking. It is simple to use and so versatile and it bears investigation on your dinner table. This recent movement to eat healthier REAL food (eat green, buy local, less processed) is nothing new. It has just been forgotten in this country for the past 50 or so years. Fennel is a case in point.
From one vegetable we get two distinct and incredibly versatile culinary products. The stalks and leaves are a vegetable and the seeds are a long-lasting spice. And what a curious little seed it is. These seeds have a mild anise flavor. Yet when they are lightly toasted they become downright spicy.
Fennel seeds, whether toasted or not, are a traditional ingredient in many Italian sausages and pasta sauces.
Fennel is a bulbous vegetable. The stems and leaves can be eaten raw — to cleanse the plate — or cooked singularly (sauté them with onions for a healthy side dish) or mixed with other ingredients. It’s great added to salads, casseroles, soups or fish dishes. You can set a fish fillet on top of stalks of fennel and roast it in the oven with just a pinch of salt and few tiny splashes of olive oil.
Fennel has been a culinary mainstay in Italy and the Mediterranean since the time of the ancient Greeks and has been wildly mentioned in the Persian defeat by the Greeks on the Plains of Marathon. (The Greek name for fennel was ‘marathon’ hence the name of the field.) They, like the Romans afterward, ate it raw and it played a big part in both cultures. The Puritans ate fennel stalks during long church services.
The components of the essential oils found in fennel is believed to combat Anemia, Indigestion, Constipation, Colic, Diarrhea, Respiratory and Menstrual disorders, Flatulence, and have regenerative effects for eye care, among other things. This is nothing new: fennel has been ‘prescribed’ to treat these disorders since before that famous battle on the Plains of Marathon.
Fennel Seed is small, has a slightly pointy oval shape and is a dried green to brown in color. Fennel Seed also plays a large part in the Indian and Asian culinary world being a key component of Curry Spice blends and Chinese Five Spice.
To toast fennel seeds, merely place them in a hot skillet and toast for about 3–4 minutes, moving them around the pan, until they become a darker brown in color. They should begin to get aromatic. You’ll know when they are done. Don’t burn them. It will happen quickly. After toasting, they can be added to breads or muffins (It will put an incredible spicy zip to the bread, not make it taste like a rye). Toasted fennel seeds really add a spark to chili or a burrito mix. You can add them whole or crush them up a bit depending on the application. They do especially well in spicy Asian inspired dishes too.
I just made a heck of a chili using ground beef, crushed tomatoes, and the usual chili powders like Cayenne and Ancho and adding toasted fennel seeds. Try it with fennel (Just season the chili to your individual taste.)
