Fennel

Scientific

Foeniculum vulgare (family Apiaceae). Two principal cultivar groups:

• Sweet / Florence fennel (F. vulgare var. azoricum) — the bulb-forming form eaten as a vegetable; the bulb is a tightly-packed structure of swollen leaf bases (similar morphology to celery)
• Bitter / common fennel (F. vulgare var. vulgare) — the wild form; non-bulbing; grown for leaves and seeds

The flavor compound is anethole, an anise-like aromatic compound shared with [[star-anise]] ([[star-anise|Illicium verum]]) and anise (Pimpinella anisum) — three unrelated plants converging on the same primary aromatic.

Cultural and historical

Ancient Greek and Roman cuisines used fennel extensively. The plant’s name traces to Latin foeniculum (“little hay”), reflecting the feathery foliage. Greek myth places fennel at the center of the Prometheus story — the titan stole fire from the gods inside a hollow fennel stalk (narthex) and brought it down to humanity.

The Battle of Marathon (490 BCE) was fought on the Marathon plain — marathon being the ancient Greek word for fennel, after which the battle and the modern long-distance race are named.

Cuisine applications:

• Italian — finocchiona (fennel-seed salami); finocchio gratinato; fennel-and-orange salad; sausage seasoning
• Indian — fennel seeds (saunf) as the principal component of mukhwas (post-meal mouth freshener); in Bengali panch phoron spice mix
• Iranian — bademjan and rice dishes
• French Provençal — sauces with fennel pollen; fish preparations on fennel beds
• Spanish — carne de membrillo with fennel; rural dishes

See also

Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.

• Shares approach with: [[star-anise]]
• Member of: [[plants]]

Sources

• Wikipedia — Fennel

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A plant entry in the 0mn1.one [[directory]].