Fennel

use:
Tea, bread, vegetables, Italian and French fish and meat dishes

It is especially important that the fruits are squeezed just before use and added to the food in a gauze bag. The gauze bag is removed before serving. Because of its high seasoning power, fennel should be used very sparingly. Fennel is particularly popular in French and Italian cuisine, as well as in the countries of the Far East. Fennel fruits are used similarly to caraway, e.g. to season bread and pastries. The spice is also suitable for sauces for cooked fish or meat and soups. The finocchiona (fennel salami) seasoned with fennel is particularly popular in Italy.

tip:
Should be bumped in the mortar so that it can develop its full aroma

Recipe suggestion:
Sea bass: 1.5 kg sea bass clean and gut. Crush 2 tablespoons fennel seeds, coarse salt and white peppercorns in a mortar. Brush the fish with oil, season inside and outside. Cook in a fireproof dish for 30-40 minutes. Heat 4 tablespoons Pernod, pour over the fish and flambé.

knowledge:
botany: Anise, caraway, cumin, fennel and dill belong to the same plant family and are very similar in many ways

Botany:
The annual to perennial plant can grow up to 2.5 m high, has beet-like roots, the leaves are alternately arranged. The stems are sheathed at the base, upper stalkless, glabrous, 3 to 4 times pinnate. The main axis and lateral branches each end in a compound umbel with 4 to 25 unequal long umbel rays, sheath missing, flowers arranged radially with 5 corolla leaves. In color the umbels are deep yellow. Flowering time is from July to September.

Home & Spread:
At that time fennel was native to southern and southwestern Europe. Today, it is widespread in almost all of Europe (except in the north), in northern Africa, in Asia Minor and Central Asia as well as in the Caucasus region and Iran. It is a native of North America, East Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Zealand and South Africa.

cultivation & extraction:
As soon as the fruits of the upper umbels take on a grey-green color, they are harvested. Leaves and stems should definitely be harvested before flowering. The ripe dried fennel fruits are used whole, ground or crushed.

History:
Fennel was already used as a spice in Greek and Roman cuisine and spread to Central Europe via the monastery gardens in the Mediterranean region. It was also known to the Egyptians and Greek authors often mentioned it as a good spice and medicine.