What is Fennel?
January 6, 2009
I see fennel used frequently by TV cooks but had never considered trying it myself until a couple weeks ago (as part of the first course of my Christmas dinner). I found a simple salad that featured fennel and decided to give it a shot. But what is fennel?
What is Fennel?
Fennel is a “stem and stalk” vegetable that is part of the carrot family. It is the azoricum variety of Foeniculum vulgare – the plant for fennel seeds. Who knew fennel and fennel seeds come from slightly different plants? Fennel has a white bulb on one end and tough, green stalks growing out of it. Usually the bulb is eaten and the fronds can be used for garnish.
Fennel is an aromatic vegetable like celery and carrots, but it has a distinct anise flavor. When I sliced my fennel bulb, I tasted a piece and found it like a slightly bitter licorice flavor. Apparently, and this is new to me, anise means licorice. To be honest, it didn’t taste very good and I was wary about the salad as I continued the preparations.
How do I pick out fennel?
The fennel bulb should be white or a very pale green. The stalks and fronds should be bright green and firm. Avoid pieces with brown or soft spots. It can be stored in the refrigerator for about a week.
How do I cook fennel?
You can prepare fennel by cutting off the green stalks, then removing its hard core by slicing off the bottom and cutting it into quarters. Or cut it in half and remove the core.
Fennel can be eaten raw in salads (its strong licorice flavor seemed tempered by the dressing and other parts of the salad I made), braised, roasted, or sautéed. The fronds can be used as garish.
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January 6th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
I can tell you what fennel is not…
Fennel is not good.
Licorice = ick
January 7th, 2009 at 7:58 am
I’ve been toying with the idea of trying fennel. My husband loves licorice, but I don’t so much, though I love anisette cookies. So I’m wary, but still want to give it a try eventually.
How did your salad turn out? Did you like it? Do you like licorice?
January 7th, 2009 at 9:53 am
PHSChemGuy: Haha, I’m not surprised that people have strong feelings about fennel. It is fairly potent.
Amanda: I would definitely try it. I like licorice, but to be honest, tasting a slice of fennel on its own was not very good. I was very surprised that I really liked the salad (arugula, fennel, parmesan, and lemon-shallot vinaigrette) The other ingredients seriously tempered the flavor of the fennel.
January 8th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Good advice–thanks, Andy.
August 26th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
I just tried fennel for the first time yesterday. I absolutely HATE licorice and was sure I wasn’t going to like the salad. (Recipe on Food Network for Fennel and Cabbage Slaw by Melissa d’Arabian). Anyway, like Andy said, the other ingredients really almost masked the licorice flavor and the salad turned out great. You would have a hard time picking out the fennel from the cabbage. (Although the recipe called for red cabbage, I already had the green, so that is what I used.)