Wild fennel
How to identify, gather and eat this aromatic herb
Once a sacred herb, a contraceptive and an ancient eye-sight improver — fennel is now mainly enjoyed for its flavour. The whole plant is edible, fresh and dried. Find tips for finding, identifying and eating fennel here.
Where does fennel grow wild?
Fennel originally grew wild in Europe. Its native range is along the shores of the Mediterranean sea. Loved by the ancient greeks, who immortalised fennel in their epics, and the Romans who ate the seeds and leaves.
It now has a much wider range — throughout Europe, in southern England and Wales, and the US. This opportunistic herb happily spreads itself by escaping veg patches, seeding and naturalising where it likes. Look for fennel anywhere in the world with warm sunny conditions — it especially likes to grow in disturbed ground, along roadsides and in scrub.
As a herbaceous plant, it dies back through the winter months. Fresh growth sprouts again from the roots in spring, so keep an eye out for it. This is when it’s at its tastiest.
How to identify wild fennel
Identify your fennel plant using scent, just give the leaves a rub between thumb and forefinger. They should smell like aniseed, liquorice and sweet greenery all rolled up in one. The leaves and stem should be bright green, with the stem sometimes showing very pale lateral striations. Each leaf emerges from a pale sheath along the main stem. The leaves are like cartoon fish skeletons — but floppy and very delicate. Don’t expect to see a fennel bulb like supermarket fennel.
Be aware that the umbellifer family (the carrot family) contains some deadly characters. Fennel is fairly easy to identify, but if you’re unsure with a plant, leave it until you come across a plant with fresh leaves and scent to make identification certain.
Fennel flowers are shaped like a cup, with a flat top. This is a common character in the umbellifer family — which contains cow parsley, dill and carrots, among plenty more. However — don’t use the flower to identify your plant until you’re a pro. Hemlock also has a classic umbel flower which, if consumed, may be last thing you ever eat. Ew. Scent is the easiest tell-tale for fennel so make sure you can detect that.
Use a knife to cleanly cut the leaves at their base. Leave the plant in the ground, and make sure you leave enough of it to let it recover. When you get home, give your catch a good rinse under the tap. Also — remember to pick above dog and cat (and even human) pissing height. And avoid road fennel, you don’t want exhaust in your food.
How can you use fennel?
Use fennel to make tea, simply dunk the leaves in boiling water. It looks great in one of those see-through glass tea pots. I have a feeling that fennel leaves and seeds would look (and taste) great in a bougie cocktail too.
If you’re making risotto, experiment by adding the roughly chopped leaves to the rice toward the end of cooking. Soups and stews can benefit from a liquorice lift. Fennel flavour works very well cutting through the fatty salt of cured meats and strong cheeses. So if you go so far in the kitchen as making your own links, why not add a few handfuls of fresh fennel into the mix.
The seeds are tasty as a snack plucked fresh from the plant, or dried and ground onto food. I almost forgot pickle. But add seeds and leaves to pickle too. This is all making me hungry.
Use the plant in the bathroom — immerse the leaves in the bath for a steamy scent hit. I like crushing it in my hand on a long walk, or munching on the leaves fresh. It sort of feels like brushing your teeth and I bet (I hope) it’s a breath improver.
Leave a comment if you’ve got a favourite way to use fennel. Food is best when it’s free!
