Fennel has the crispness of celery and a flavor of similar intensity. For centuries, culinary traditions in the warm, sunny climes where it grows naturally have incorporated the light licorice taste of this nutritious herb and vegetable into both sweet and savory dishes. Now that food interests have gone global, fennel is readily available to home cooks who want to add variety and complexity to everyday meals and special-occasion menus.
Fun Facts About Fennel
Fennel is the only vegetable to have an Olympic event named after it. In 490 B.C., the Persian army came ashore on a wild fennel field near Athens called the plains of Marathon. The Athenians dispatched a long-distance runner to race across a mountainous 140-mile route to beg the Spartans for military help. The Spartans demurred; the runner raced all the way back; and the Athenians won one of history's deciding battles unassisted. The connection with the Greek word for fennel -- marathon -- disappeared in English, taking on the sole meaning of a long-distance footrace. In Greek myth, a burning coal set inside a fennel stalk symbolized knowledge sent by the gods.
Salads, Salsa, Antipasto and Gazpacho
In salads, fennel mingles with other vegetables without dominating the flavor. A summer salad popular with Greeks combines fennel, romaine, radicchio, romaine, red onion, walnuts and fresh herbs with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Fennel stalks add interest to raw vegetable platters and antipasto arrangements. The Spanish often blend fennel into gazpacho, the vegetable soup traditionally served cold on sizzling summer days. Grated, minced or chopped fennel makes an intriguing addition to salsas, and the feathery, dark green fronds always make artful decorative garnishes for plates.
Savory Uses Around the World
The presence of of fennel in several classic European dishes demonstrates its special gift for enhancing the flavors of fish, seafood and pork. Bouillabaisse, one of the most internationally famous of all French recipes, is a fish and seafood stew that makes liberal use of fresh fennel, fennel seeds and Pernod, an anise-flavored liqueur. Without fennel, Italian sausages wouldn't taste Italian. The Spanish add it to paella, their rice, seafood and chorizo masterpiece. In Greece and Crete, "marathopita," or fennel pie, is a skillet-cooked flatbread with the minced herb kneaded right into the dough. In India, no spice cupboard would be complete without fennel and other licorice-flavored seeds such as anise and star anise. When fennel is used to flavor stocks, sauces, soups and stews, it should be added at the end of cooking.
Fennel in Desserts
Epicurious has collected 17 dessert recipes, all containing fennel, from "Gourmet" and "Bon Appetit" magazines. Some, like "maple gingerbread layer cake with salted maple-caramel sauce," are challenging. Others, including "watermelon with fennel salt," require little preparation. Fennel ice cream, which earned a perfect score from taste testers, can be made with an ordinary ice cream maker. Most recipes call for fennel seeds but "apple tart with caramelized fennel," from famed restaurant La Riboto de Taven in Les Baux-de-Provence, France, is made with three bulbs of fresh fennel.
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