Kitchen Confidential

The Magic of Fennel

Fennel finds itself in most kitchens not just as a food flavouring, but for its medicinal value as well, writes Bryan Francis.

'A savoury odour blown,
Grateful to appetite, more pleased my sense
Than smell of sweetest Fennel.'
- Milton, in Paradise Lost

Fragrant, warm, sweet and agreeably aromatic, fennel adds a dash of comfort to food. It yields inherent sweetness adding an exciting if soothing edge to any dish. A hardy, perennial herb, with yellow flowers and feathery leaves, it grows wild in most parts of temperate Europe, but is generally considered indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean, from where it spreads eastwards to India. The herb followed the Italians on their colonising adventures and turned native in many parts of the world. It's a rare cuisine that does not use fennel in some form or the other. Today it is largely cultivated in the south of France, Saxony, Galicia, Russia, India and Iran.

Variously referred to as fenkel, sweet fennel or wild fennel, every part of the plant (seeds, leaves, roots) finds use in kitchens across the world. Foeniculum was the name given to this plant by the Romans, and is derived from the Latin word, foenum meaning hay. By the Middle Ages, it was corrupted into Fanculum, and then 'fenkel'.

Fennel was cultivated by the ancient Romans for its aromatic fruits and succulent, edible shoots. Pliny held the herb and its medicinal properties in high esteem finding use for it in 22 different remedies. He also observed, that serpents eat it "when they cast their old skins, and they sharpen their sight with the juice by rubbing against the plant".

Many herbalists also strongly believe in the peculiarly strengthening effect of this herb on eyesight.
Longfellow alludes to this virtue:
'Above the lower plants it towers,
The Fennel with its yellow flowers;
And in an earlier age than ours
Was gifted with the wondrous powers
Lost vision to restore.'

In medieval times, fennel was used along with St. John's Wort and other herbs, against witchcraft and other evil influences, and was hung over doors on Midsummer's Eve to ward off evil spirits. It was also eaten as a condiment to the salt fish for its carminative effects.

On the menu
Romans valued the young shoots as a vegetable and fennel shoots, fennel water and fennel seeds are all mentioned in an ancient Spanish agriculture record from 961 AD. It was Charlemagne, who took it to Central Europe. But its culinary use across Europe can only be attributed to the Italians who used it to flavour and tenderize meat and to help make palatable indifferent fish. Grill fish with fennel bulb and you'll understand why this herb works so well. Its leaves are served nowadays with salmon, to correct its oily indigestibility, and are also put into sauce, in the same way as parsley, to be eaten with boiled mackerel. It also found use as a weight-loss remedy in the 17th century. In India, the seed is used to flavour kebabs and curries as well as chewed on as a mouth refreshner and digestive. In Italy and France, the tender leaves are often used as garnishing and to add flavour to salads and sauces. Roman bakers are said to have put the herb under their loaves in the oven to make the bread taste agreeable. Fennel oil is also used to make cordials and liqueurs.

Medicinal Uses
On account of its aromatic and carminative properties, fennel fruit is chiefly used medicinally with purgatives. Fennel water has properties similar to those of anise and dill water: mixed with sodium bicarbonate and syrup, these waters constitute the domestic 'gripe water', used to correct flatulence in infants. Fennel tea used as a carminative, is made by pouring half a pint of boiling water on a teaspoonful of bruised Fennel seeds. It also helps with nausea. Syrup prepared from fennel juice is given for chronic coughs. Its anti-flatulence properties notwithstanding, it is a diuretic and eases pains associated with kidney stones and is even credited with helping break them. The leaves or seed boiled in barley water increase lactation in nursing mothers, while the seed and roots are said to help the liver, spleen, and gall bladder. Traditionally it was used as a cure for jaundice, gout and cramps. The seed is also used in medicines for shortness of breath and wheezing, while the roots are employed to help to cleanse the blood.