Fennel - a weed and a gourmet delight

"It looks like celery and tastes like liquorice." Ken Jennings

My friend Monika gave me a fennel bulb from her very productive garden which I have already used, but unlike the fennel you buy in the shops it came with the fronds as well. Why do they cut them off I wonder? Because the fronds are delicious too.

It's a very ancient plant, native to the Mediterranean and according to Bert Greene in his wonderful book Greene on Greens it had spiritual power too.

"Inhabitants of Mohenjo-Daro (4,000 years before the brith of Christ), believed that knowledge, in the form of fire, was transmitted by the gods to humanity in the lacy branches of fennel. Accordingly the roots, seeds, and even delicate fronds of this plant were seared and roasted until they turned to fine ash, and the powder used to season most of the foods Mohenjo-Darians consumed." (Mohenjo-Daro was part of the ancient Indus valley civilisations, and is now in Pakistan)

Of course, you all know that there are two types of fennel - the weed - or common fennel - that you see growing by the roadside and in empty blocks everywhere. This does not have the swollen bulb which comes with Florentine fennel. But you can still eat the leaves, and the seeds of the plant, and cut the lovely flowers and put them in a vase to scent and beautify your kitchen.

I often pick some - there is a plant near here - if I don't have any dill and I am cooking fish - because it goes particularly well with fish. Currently though I have the fronds of the Florentine fennel - heaps of them, and I am going to use them in a chicken sort of curry for dinner tonight. For it goes well with chicken too - and pork. Not sure about lamb or beef. You can make a pesto with it in the same way as you do for basil - just use fennel instead of pesto. Nigel Slater had a recipe for pasta with dill, cream and bacon which he claimed to be his favourite pasta - I'm guessing you could use fennel instead, though fennel does have a rather stronger taste.

The bulb is another thing altogether - adored by the Italians, and increasingly by everyone else. I confess if I see any at a reasonable price I buy one - or even two - I can't resist. They are so beautiful, and so versatile. I still remember some braised fennel I made once. It was a bit of a bother to make - long slow cooking that needed an eagle eye, but the taste was delicious.

“The fennel is beyond every other vegetable, delicious. It greatly resembles in appearance the largest size celery, perfectly white, and there is no vegetable equals it is flavour. It is eaten at dessert, crude, and with, or without dry salt, indeed I preferred it to every other vegetable, or to any fruit.” Thomas Jefferson

And let's not forget the seeds. If your precious plant bolts - like coriander or parsley, then never fear because you have all the seeds which can also be added to all manner of dishes for extra oomph.

Or the stalks. It's a very versatile plant. When you have used the fronds, the seeds and the bulbs, and cut the flowers too, the woody stalks can be used on your barbecue to give extra flavour to fish, chicken or pork.

It might be a weed but I confess I can't grow it - well that's me - the world's worst gardener. I have been trying to grow some ornamental fennel for the last couple of years - it has beautiful bronzed fronds. I saw it in an English garden where it was a magnificent bush. Here it is struggling to do anything at all, though it won't quite give up the ghost.

Anyway tonight I'm off to concoct my chicken dish with, fennel fronds, lemon and yoghurt I think. Maybe some preserved lemon too and a bit of spice. The possibilities are pretty much endless and there are not many vegetables and herbs that you an say that about.