Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Herb guide to Fennel Leaves along with all the Fennel Leaves containing recipes presented on this site, with 11 recipes in total.

e This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Cornish recipes added to this site.

These recipes, all contain Fennel Leaves as a major herb flavouring.

Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare (also known as Sweet Cumin) is a species in the family, Apiaceae also known as Umbelliferae which also includes carrots, cumin, caraway and fennel. It is an aromatic perennial herb, a native of southern Europe and south-western Asia that can grow to 2m tall. The leaves grow up to 40 cm long and are finely dissected and frond-like. The flowers are produced in terminal compound umbels 5—15 cm wide, each umbel section with 20—50 tiny yellow flowers on short pedicels. Once fertilized these form dry fruit some 4–9mm long and it is these that are used as a spice (and which are commonly mis-named fennel seeds).



Fennel leaves are sweet and aromatic, with an aroma and flavour that is similar to anise (they are one of the classic 'sweet' herbs). The essential oil of fennel cultivars predominantly contains anethole, with limonene and fenchone present in smaller quantities and estragole (methyl chavicol), safrole, α-pinene, camphene, β-pinene, β-myrcene and p-cymene present in very small amounts (0.5% or less). In contrast, the essential oil of the wild, uncultivated form is characterized by the bitter fenchone.



Etymologically, the word fennel developed from Middle English fenel, fenyl itself derived from the Latin fœniculum a diminutive of fœnum (hay). Fennel seed is used as a spice, and the enlarged bulb of Florence fennel is used as a vegetable. The leaves, however, are used as an herb to help flavour other dishes. It was the monasteries of the middle ages who made the plant popular and who propagated the plant to central and northern Europe.



Fennel leaves (dried or fresh) go particularly well with egg, fish and cheese-based dishes where the aniseed notes of the fennel leaves enhance the flavour of the dish. Fennel leaves are particularly useful in fish dishes where they can be used with, or instead of dill. Indeed, finely-chopped fennel leaves make and interesting addition to any white sauce.