fennel
Also: bread seeds, bread spices, children's fennel, Fenikl, Fenkel
Description:
Appearance:
Belongs to the umbellifer family. Biennial to perennial, up to 2 m high plant. Leaves are multiple pinnate with thready sections. Double umbels with rays of unequal length, flowers are yellowish.
Consists of 3-12 mm long and 2-4 mm wide yellowish-green to yellow-brown partial or split fruits. Each partial fruit with 5 straight, protruding ribs, which are particularly strong on the joint surface.
Recovered plant part:
Seeds = split fruits, disintegrate into 2 parts
Harvest time:
Late August to early November
Offer forms:
Dried, whole or ground, essential fennel oil, fennel tea, fennel syrup, fennel honey, fennel milk, fennel wine, fennel sweets
Ingredients:
Essential oil: trans-anethole and fenchone and estragole, fatty oil, flavonoids
Taste and smell:
Smell: Sweetish, slightly spicy
Taste: Pleasantly spicy, anise-like, but less sweet
Cooking and kitchen use with typical dishes:
Boil whole seeds with, but use sparingly.
Soups: potato soup, bouillabaisse, fennel or carrot soup
Meat dishes: grilled or roasted lamb, pork and veal meat
Fish dishes: mackerel, trout, sardines à grilled or poached, fennel leaves with fish dishes
Vegetable side dishes: Small addition to legumes, cabbage, sauerkraut, carrots and cucumber, mushrooms
Salads: leaf salads, carrot, beetroot
Miscellaneous: Bread spices à fennel bread, savory baked goods with cheese, pastries: Christmas baking, ground for Christmas baking, pickling, marinades, jams, cheese with fennel, sauces for cooked fish or pork, crustaceans or spaghetti, compote, canning spices for cucumbers, pumpkins, carrots as well as sauerkraut, herring, tea: also combination with anise and chamomile
Use within dietetics:
Digestive: Antispasmodic, against flatulence and bloating, stimulates the appetite, valuable for those with stomach problems: calming, respiratory diseases (essential oils are expectorant)