What is fennel? Everything you can get to know and love about this fragrant plant

Masonna held, a Mostly French And a cooking teacher in France does not always love fennel. He found it very huge and aggressive anise forecast. Only when he moved to Provence, where the wild and cultivated fennel are growing abundantly, he gave the plant another shot and moved, called “childhood trauma” around the taste of licorice-like fennel.

Held was pleasantly surprised to find out what the tastes of fennel could like, depending on which part it was used and how it cooked it. “The raw fennel leans heavily on the stronger Anisette, and every used heat makes even the most intense fennel shy and gentle,” he says.

For anise-loving, zero waste fans like me, it is also extremely satisfactory that the whole plant is edible. “Fennel is an extremely versatile ingredient,” says Held. You can slice the onions into crispy salads or for hearty roasts, disturbed the stems into cocktailsUse the fronts in sweet or tasty dishes and mix the seeds into spice mixtures and sausages. When I feel like rinsing, I pull out a Fennel pollen Sprinkle the local farmers' market for grilled fish or fried vegetables.

So, what is fennel? Here is everything you need to know.

What is fennel?

Fennel is a blooming perennial herb that is native to the southern Mediterranean, which is greatly characterized by the region of Levantine, Greek, Italian and other kitchens. Extensive family tree, ApiaceaeSpans carrots, cumin, celery and root celeriac, parsnips, knights, parsley and coriander. Cooks use every part of the plant: a strong white bulb, pale green stems, and feather spots on the yellow flowers, and seeds and pollen.

Fennel bulbs are often sold in the farmers' market and grocery stores with their long, leaf fronts. Although most fennel sold today are six -12 inches, the plant can be up to six feet higher.

How to identify fennel

Appearance

The white bulb of fennel is ribbed like celery and usually about a tennis ball. It is connected to the hard light green stem, which is usually six -12 inches long when sold between six and 12 inches. The darker green front on top of the stem and can cause vivid yellow flowers after 12-16 weeks. The fronts and flowers are edible, but sometimes cut when the plant is packaged for sale.

Aroma

The efficiency of fennel depends on the variety. Finocchio, sometimes called Firenze, is a sweet fennel that is widely cultivated and is available in the United States, with fruity anizette notes, especially onion. Other Mediterranean varieties grown for their sweetly flavored onions include Di Florence and Fino. Wild fennel also increases throughout the Mediterranean region and often has anise flavors, with salty, bitter notes. For most edible fennel, the bulb and stem are crisp and mild, but less aromatic than feather fronts with liquorice-like sweets and lemon note. Fennel pollen, which is extracted from the flowers and then dried, has anise flavors with honey citrus.

Season

“The American fennel season depends on the region and the climate,” says Amber Grossman, creator of the Instagram account Black Girls Horticulture and the author of the book of the same name. In the cooler northeast and west of the United States, fennel are best grown in spring and autumn, with Peak Harvest at the end of the summer until early autumn. In warmer southern states and California, the plant blooms to November and April, before the sky-high summer temperatures. The wild fennel is perennial and blooms in many regions throughout the year, Grossman added.

How to use fennel

Jilbert El Zmetr, the chef and founder of Laziza Restaurant in Brooklyn, New York, said the Fennel was delicious and cooked. “The raw fennel has a stronger anise smell than their cooked cousins,” he says. Cooking: “Extensions empty the taste of anise and bring natural sweets.”

Fennel

To throw the thin slices of the bulb to highlight the raw fennel and to highlight distinctly aniseed tickets bite Like Radicchio and Endive in a bright anchovy cover. Or you can bring the sweets of vegetables with the citrus fruits Fried salad salad salad with orange or fennel and citrus suprème toastOr

Fried or parallel to fennel will be gentle and almost creamy. Layer of paper thin slice of fennel bulb and russet potatoes under the spicy chicken legs to simply make it easier flat dinner dinneror use as an Allium a casserole or velvet– The anise tickets are underestimated, providing delicious sweets to round the delicious ingredients. Cooking sideways are stronger black licorice-sweet fennel notes, similarly to roasted or toasted celery He does not immediately proclaim himself as part of a celery plant.

Fennel

Fennel fronts have anise smell and slightly sweet and citrus and thus serve as a great ingredient for the punch Pesto– Wonderful with fish such as whole branzino rosemary and tangerine“You can combine them with fresh herbs, such as mint and parsley to accompany fried red meats or mushrooms,” Zmetr suggests. In Lazi, for several days, he filled the olive oil with the bright green fronts to add a herbaceous flavor oil and then sift it to the salads.

Fennel -seeds

The whole fennel seeds are chewing, gentle spicy notes. It is used in cooking and medicine in many cultures, from the Mediterranean to India, says Held. In many parts of South, people enjoy candied fennel seeds as a breathtaking refreshment and promote digestion. “Fennel seeds are well coupled with pork and fish, but frankly? Fennel seeds are coupled with most things,” says Held. “I like to use them in all kinds of fried vegetables and meat, whole set and broth, and spice mixtures.”

Use them to make a crunchy herb fried porkor toast and mix them Sweet or spicy pork sausages– ground fennel seeds bring earthy sweets to spice mixtures such as five spicy dust and masalaalso.

What to replace fennel

The best replacement of fennel depends on which part of the recipe you need and how it cooked or uses. Here are five exchanges that need to be tried.

Aniseed: Anise seeds are of similar size and chewing, but stronger Licobanka flavor than fennel seeds. To replace you use half as much as you need in the recipe.

Anise: If you turn the toasted fennel into soup or curry, you may be able to replace the anise liqueur dash. In this steamed oysterDaniel Gritzer, editorial director of Serious Eats, recommends that you use three tablespoons of Pernod for 50 grams of fennel. However, the liqueur contains more sugar than the plant, so use a light hand and taste.

Cumin: Cumin And fennel comes from the same flowering family, Apiaceae, and has a similar anise and chewy texture. Use cumin as a substitution for fennel seeds in greasy meat mixtures such as sausages.

Celery: Thanks to its high water content and crunchy texture, celery best replaces fennel in raw formulations such as salads. At the same time, taste it, so adjust the flavor to taste.

White onion: If the recipe requires roasting or toasted sliced ​​fennel soil, use the same amount of white onions. Although the onion does not taste exactly the same anise, it is similarly gentle and mild when cooking.

When you shouldn't try to replace fennel

When you decorate a vessel with fronds, it is certainly can Replace the various fresh herbs such as parsley or dill, but you will not have a sweet, citrus taste and your diet will have a completely different taste profile.

Similarly, although you can use half as many anise seeds as fennel seeds in salty, anise seeds can overcome aromatic spice mixtures such as masalaSo I will be more likely to skip them than try to find a substitute. Occasionally, only fennel will do.

How to store fennel

To store fennel, start the bulb by separated from the fixed stems and fronts. Keep the bulb in a kitchen towel or paper towel in the fridge's crispy drawer for up to 10 days. Loosely roll the fronts and stems separately -or store in open plastic bags; They hold in the refrigerator for five days.

Store the fennel seeds in a cool, dry place in airtight container.