Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Spice guide to Fennel along with all the Fennel containing recipes presented on this site, with 173 recipes in total.

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 spice-based recipes added to this site.

These recipes, all contain Fennel as a major flavouring.

Fennel (also known as Sweet Cumin), Foeniculum vulgare is a species in the Apiaceae (also known as umbellifearae) family, 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 is widely cultivated both in its native range and elsewhere of for its edible, strongly flavoured leaves and seeds. The flavour is similar to that of anise and star anise, though usually not so strong. Once cultivar, Florence Fennel (F vulgare Azoricum) has inflated leaf bases that form a bulb-like structure ad the plant's base. It comes mainly from India and Egypt and it has a mild anise-like flavour, but is more aromatic and sweeter.

The bulb, as well as the leaves and the fruit are all edible. Dried fennel seeds are an aromatic, anise-flavoured spice which are brown or green in colour when fresh, and slowly turn a dull grey as the seed ages. For cooking, green seeds are optimal. Many cultures in the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East incorporate fennel seed into their culinary traditions. It is an essential ingredient in the Bengali spice mixture panch phoron and in Chinese five-spice powders. In the west, fennel seed is a very common ingredient in Italian sausages and northern European rye breads. Etymologically, the word fennel developed from Middle English fenel, fenyl iself derived from the Latin fœniculum a diminutive of fœnum (hay).

The fennel fruit are sweet and aromatic, similar to anise; they are often married with fish dishes. Interestingly, fennel pollen is also sometimes used as a spice and known as 'spice of the angels', has a subtle fennel flavour, lacking some of the sweet­ness but with a distinct note of pine needles (pollen, being easily damaged by heat should be added only towards the end of cooking). The essential oil of the most important fennel variety (var. dulce) contains anethole (50 to 80%), limonene (5%), fenchone (5%), estragole (methyl chavicol), safrole, α-pinene (0.5%), camphene, β-pinene, β-myrcene and p-cymene. In contrast, the un­cultivated form (var. vulgare) contains often more essential oil, but since it is charac­terized by the bitter fenchone (12 to 22%), it is of little value.

The pant became popular in Europe during the Middle Ages, as it spread northwards from its native Mediterranean home with the spread of the monasteries. Etymologically, the word fennel developed from Middle English fenel, fenyl itself derived from the Latin fœniculum (literally 'little hay') a diminutive of the Latin fœnum (hay).

The bulb, as well as the leaves and the fruit are all edible. Dried fennel seeds are an aromatic, anise-flavoured spice which are brown or green in colour when fresh, and slowly turn a dull grey as the seed ages. For cooking, green seeds are optimal. Many cultures in the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East incorporate fennel seed into their culinary traditions. It is an essential ingredient in the Bengali spice mixture panch phoron and in Chinese five-spice powders. In the west, fennel seed is a very common ingredient in Italian sausages and northern European rye breads. Interestingly, fennel pollen is sold in Italy as a specialist (and rather expensive) spice.