Fennel seeds

Fennel seeds

Fennel is native to Southern Europe and grown extensively all over Europe, Middle-East, China, India, and Turkey. It has been used as a flavour enhancer since Mycenaean times – 1500 BCE.

It can be used both whole and ground into powder. It has a flavour and aroma closely resembling those of anise seed and cloves. It is used with to enhance their flavour. It is one of the ingredients in the five-spice powder and curry powder. In recipes, only a very small quantity is used. Usually less than half a teaspoon is used in most recipes. If you watch Jaime Oliver’s cooking videos, you will see him using a generous amount in his recipes. 

It is commonly used in breads, sausages, cheese, soups, sauces, marinade for meat, fish or vegetables, salad dressings, coleslaw, meat dishes, stews, casseroles and curries. It is added to poaching or steaming liquid for fish and shellfish. 
Ground fennel seeds is sprinkled over fish or meat. It is used in both sweet and savoury dishes.

Anise, cumin, caraway seeds and dill are used as substitutes for fennel.

To grind fennel seeds into powder dry roast them until lightly brown and grind them in a spice mill. In powder form it loses its strength if kept for long. It is good to make the powder freshly before each use. For curries, temper them lightly in oil. Dry roasting and frying releases the essential oil in the seeds and enhances the flavour and aroma.

In home remedy fennel seed is sometimes used for relieving flatulence and indigestion in. For this purpose, usually it is made into a tea by either boiling it making an infusion by steeping it in hot water for 20 to 30 minutes. Fennel tea can be used as gripe water for infants. In India, seeds are chewed to prevent bad breath and to aid digestion.

Fennel has some medicinal properties and contains some nutrients. There will be no significant values in the very small quantity that we use in day to day cooking.  It has flavonoid anti-oxidants like kaempferol and quercetin, metabolically inert insoluble fibre, volatile essential oil compounds such as anethole, limonene, anisic aldehyde, pinene, myrcene, fenchone, chavicol, and cineole and minerals like copper, iron, calcium, potassium, manganese, selenium, zinc, and magnesium.

Fennel essential oil is said to be a powerful convulsant due to its highly reactive monoterpene ketones. The oils of Fennel seed contain anethole, fenchone, camphene, sabenine, myrcene, limonene, camphor, and several other volatile constituents. Skin contact with the sap or essential oil is said to cause photosensitivity and/or dermatitis in some people. Intake of the oil can cause vomiting, seizures and pulmonary oedema.