To my eye, fresh garden fennel is one gorgeous vegetable: a white bulb subtly blushed with palest green, nearly sculptural in shape, topped by delicate deep green fronds. But don’t be swayed by good looks alone; add this underutilized warm-weather veggie to your market basket because it’s delightful.
Italians call it finocchio; the French, fenouil. My grandmother called it anise. Not too surprising, since fennel is botanically related to anise, cumin, dill, caraway and coriander. It’s a kissing cousin to carrots, parsnips and celery root and a second cousin to that roadside rambler, Queen Anne’s lace. Fennel’s sweet, with a hit of aromatics for a wake-up-the-taste-buds buzz.
Fennel enthusiast Walker Claridge of Terra Bella Farms in Millersburg rocks the kitchen when fennel season hits. “I do all kinds of things with fennel,” he said. “I’ll plunk it into stir-fries. I’ll sauté it, cut it up with some Italian sausage. Split lengthwise, cored, with some of the frond, I’ll bake it with a little butter, a little cream, lemon juice and nutmeg. Or I’ll use the same method, but with orange juice, butter, cream and hazelnuts for a change.”
Mmm – but there’s more: “A French woman gave me an endive recipe I adapted. Chop some fennel, wrap it in ham like a bundle, and put them in a baking dish with béchamel sauce. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes,” Claridge said. Never one to follow a recipe, Claridge instead walks the garden, harvests what’s ready, then cooks.
Claridge, a first-generation farmer, raises out-of-season crops, including Goal, an early spring fennel, in two unheated greenhouses he called “giant cold frames.” Spring through fall, he field-crops vegetables, including fennel, at Terra Bella with the help of volunteers, partner Kimberly Griffin and farm hand Gage Ryan. He likes locally grown fennel so much, he’ll buy it at market from Ingrid and Lee Abraham if he happens to be out.
The Abrahams began farming at their Berger Bluff Farm in 1990. Fennel has been on their grow list for years now. “I’ve been a fan of fennel for a long time. It’s one of my favorite crops to eat and grow,” said Ingrid Abraham.
Even though fennel is a reliable crop in St. Louis, the scorching heat of June and July hits just as the fully mature bulbs are harvested. “Fennel is of Mediterranean origin. They don’t have that intense heat at the end of the growing period like we do,” Abraham said. To compensate, the Abrahams grow the hybrid cultivar Orion, which seems to endure high temperatures.
In summer, Abraham prefers not to cook fennel. “We use fennel most in salads and for fennel slaw,” she said. “Julienne the bulb and mix with grated carrots, then add a simple lemon juice and oil dressing.” For customers who are unfamiliar with fennel, she recommended braising, then broiling with butter, grated Parmesan and breadcrumbs.
You’ll find Walker Claridge only at the Maplewood Farmers’ Market on Wednesdays from 4 to 7 p.m. The Abrahams might switch to the Clayton market this year. Look for baby fennel mid-May; mature bulbs will be available in June and July.
This article appears in May 1-31, 2008.