It was spring and time to plant for summer. I had been looking for bronze fennel to use as an ornamental element in my tiny floral garden beds but couldn’t find any local sources, so I bought five fennel seedlings, the kind people grow for the bulbs.
I love licorice so of course fennel is one of my favorite vegetables. I eat it raw like an apple, thinly sliced in the well loved Insalata Forte from Angeli, and braised until tender “alla Parmigiana” style. I only eat the fat round female bulbs instead of the flatter males because they are sweeter and bring more crunch. You can always get them at Trader Joe’s in a two pack (it’s a mystery how they manage this feat). I knew there was no way I’d be able to grow bulbs that fat and round but I didn’t care because these seedlings were destined to live out their lives from seedling to seed.
It was kind of stunning how quickly the wispy little plants created great structural elements in the garden. In the picture below you can see a cherimoya tree behind it and a purple flowering Centaurea Gymnocarpa beside it. The fennel plants were rapidly doing what I wanted, becoming a tall wispy filler of green to set off the shorter plantings in front of it.
Each time I go to Italy I buy fennel pollen, a magical all-purpose subtle spicing dust that costs a considerable amount. So at this stage of the fennel’s growth I started having fantasies of harvesting my own fennel pollen. But then the bees came. So. Many. Bees. I was thrilled to see them. Although I had seen the odd outlier buzzing around the flowers (I mean who could resist those purple pom poms) it wasn’t until the fennel pollen appeared that the garden really became a thriving habitat for insect life. There was no way I was going to cut off their food supply by harvesting pollen so I settled in to enjoy the plants as they evolved.
At this point I knew that I still had a harvest opportunity, the seeds. I had bought some organza gift bags to protect the grapes from non human fruit connoisseurs and thought they would be perfect to collect the seeds from the heads. In addition to seeds there is extra plant material that is like a “dust” something very similar to what I would sometimes see in my purchased fennel pollen.
Here’s what the grapes in bags looked like when I first covered them. Such a success! It’s the first time in 20 years that I actually get to eat ripe grapes in perfect condition.
What will I make with the seeds? I associate fennel seed and wild fennel tops with porchetta so for years I’ve used fennel pollen to dust thin pork cutlets that I sauté and finish with lemon juice. I also use the stuff for smothered pork chops. Perhaps that will be dinner tonight. I always used the fennel pollen to make a fennel salt. It’s good on everything! This time I pounded salt, fennel seeds etc, pepper together in a mortar.
ps. Thank you Elizabeth Minchilli for this post about your family’s favorite pasta from my book Pasta Fresca. I can’t believe we get to cook and eat together again soon.
Ci vediamo a presto in Italia!
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Do you know of the calamansi lime and how to use it? We have a terrifically productive tree.
Love love fresh fennel. I add it raw, to salads. Fennel bulbs (and fronds, for flavoring) are luscious in a beef or a lamb tagine. I have found fennel powder in the US. I believe a different kind of fennel grows in Italy. I find that Moroccan fennel has a more intense flavor than the one I purchase in the US..