Fennel is an amazing plant. Should You Grow Fennel?

The article discusses fennel - the preparation of the plant, beneficial features, recipes. You will learn how fennel is useful, what it is, how to cook salads, meat and vegetable dishes with it, what parts of the plant can be eaten.

In cooking, both seeds, and herbs, and fennel root are used.

Fennel is perennial from the Umbrella family, which looks like dill, and tastes and smells like anise.

While all parts of the plant are edible, recipes for fennel dishes include the onion. The onion is added as a vegetable to meat and vegetable dishes, pickled, broths and sauces are made from it.

How to eat fennel:

The stems and leaves are used as an aromatic herb that adds a refreshing and sweet flavor to dishes and garnishes salads.
The seeds are dried and added as a seasoning for baking bakery and some confectionery products, as well as for meat dishes.

In addition to culinary benefits, fennel has beneficial medicinal properties.. It has an expectorant and carminative effect, stimulates the intestines and activates the kidneys. Thanks to vitamins and flavonoids, the plant copes well with colds, flu and spring beriberi.

How to cook fennel at home

Before you cook fennel, be careful when buying it.. If you choose the wrong plant, it will quickly lose its aroma and brightness of taste. To prevent this from happening, follow our tips:

Choose firm-feeling white tubers with bright, lush greenery.
Smell the product - the aroma should be fresh and slightly aniseed.
Store fennel in paper bags for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.

Also keep in mind that no matter which fennel dishes you choose, recipes call for the use of a carefully crafted onion.

How to prepare fennel:

Wash the plant running water and pat dry with paper towel.
Cut the onion into several wedges and cut out the inner core.
Remove outer tough leaves.

fennel recipes

In cooking there is a large number of fennel dishes - recipes with photos are full of a variety of ingredients. Fennel is added to desserts, snacks, soups, broths, stews, sauces, meat dishes, poultry and sea fish dishes. The plant goes well with fruits, zucchini, soft salted cheese, baked potatoes and tomatoes, cedar and walnuts. When raw, fennel has a bright dill-mint flavor, while when cooked, it has a more delicate aftertaste.

Fennel and orange salad

If you are looking for tasty dish, which will not only please your family, but also help in the season colds, try orange fennel salad - the recipe will delight you with its simplicity and health benefits.

You will need:

fennel bulb - 1 pc.;
orange - 1 pc.;
olive oil - 2 tablespoons;
balsamic vinegar - 2 tbsp.
parsley - 1 bunch;
salt, pepper - to taste.

How to cook:

Cut the fennel in half and thinly slice into half rings or strips.
Peel the orange, cut out the pulp, avoiding the membranes, and cut the segments into small slices. Collect the juice that leaked out when peeling the fruit into a glass.
Add balsamic vinegar, oil to orange juice and mix.
Arrange orange and fennel on a plate, season with salt and pepper, season with oil-vinegar sauce and garnish with parsley.

calories:

Calories per 100 gr. product 121.5 kcal.

Vegetable stew with fennel

Tasty and healthy dish — vegetable stew with fennel

Vegetable stew has a spicy spicy taste and quickly drives away the blues and energizes. If you do not like spicy dishes, change the dosage of red pepper before cooking fennel - recipes advise reducing it by 2 or 3 times. Prepare the dish immediately before serving, as the zucchini can give juice.

You will need:

fennel bulb - 2 pcs.;
zucchini - 1 pc.;
sweet pepper - 3 pcs.;
carrots - 1 pc.;
potatoes - 2 pcs.;
tomato - 3 pcs.;
garlic (slice) - 1 pc.;
olive oil - 1 tbsp;
parsley - 1-2 branches;
salt - to taste.

How to cook:

Rinse the zucchini and pat dry with paper towels to remove any moisture.
Cut the zucchini, peppers, carrots, potatoes and fennel bulb into cubes.
Chop the tomato into slices.
Fry the fennel pieces, pepper and garlic clove in oil.
Add the rest of the vegetables to the mixture, salt and simmer until they become soft. Stir in the tomato, bring the stew to a boil and remove from heat.
Lay the stew on plates and garnish with parsley.

calories:

Calories per 100 gr. product 28.8 kcal.

pickled fennel

An interesting recipe that can be prepared from fennel for a meat dish is pickled tubers. This snack can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.

You will need:

fennel bulb - 3 pcs.;
yellow mustard seeds - 0.5 tsp;
black pepper in peas - 0.5 tsp;
olive oil - 3 tablespoons;
white wine vinegar - 1 cup;
granulated sugar - 0.5 cups;
salt - to taste.

How to cook:

Roughly chop the fennel.
Prepare a jar for seaming - sterilize it in the oven or over steam.
Heat a small skillet over medium heat, add the black pepper and mustard and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring in the seasonings, until fragrant. Grind the spices to a powder in a mortar or grinder.
Pour water into a saucepan, add olive oil, add sugar, salt and spices. Bring the mixture to a boil.
Add vinegar to the liquid and remove the dishes from the heat.
Put the fennel in a jar, pour over the marinade and place the container in a water bath. Boil for 15 minutes, then close the jar with a screw cap.

calories:

Calories per 100 gr. product 127.3 kcal.

Fennel with chicken

Fennel goes great with chicken.

Chicken goes great with fennel and is perfect for cooks looking for recipes to make fennel at home for a hearty family dinner. The dish can be both independent and complement rice, pasta and potatoes.

You will need:

fennel bulb - 1 pc.;
chicken thighs - 6 pcs.;
cream 30% fat - 300 g;
mustard grains - ⅔ tbsp;
garlic (clove) - 3 pcs.;
pepper, salt - to taste;
seasoning for chicken - to taste.

How to cook:

Wash chicken thighs, peel, pat dry with paper towels and season with salt and black pepper.
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the chicken until golden brown.
Reduce the heat, cover the pan with a lid and simmer the thighs for 10 minutes.
Cut the fennel bulb into strips or half rings, add to the chicken and continue to simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Grind the garlic, mustard in a mortar and pour into a small frying pan. Pour in the cream, add the chicken seasonings and heat through.
Pour the sauce over the fennel chicken thighs and bring to a boil.

calories:

Calories per 100 gr. product 164.5 kcal.

Beef with fennel

Fragrant beef with fennel is so delicious that it can even be used for a romantic dinner. Before cooking fennel, buy good meat - young, up to 2 years old, 1 cm thick and palm-sized. Serve while hot with roasted potatoes or grilled vegetables.

You will need:

fennel bulb - 1-2 pcs.;
beef meat - 1 kg;
carrots - 1 pc.;
potatoes - 4-6 pcs.;
onion - 1 pc.;
garlic (head) - 1 pc.;
vegetable oil - 1 tbsp.

How to cook:

Cut the meat into strips or small pieces. Fry in a skillet with salt and pepper until golden brown.
Cut the garlic and onion into rings, carrots into slices, and potatoes into cubes. Cut the fennel along the grain into several pieces.
Add vegetables to the sautéed meat, season with salt and pepper.
Pour a little water into the pan so that the dish is stewed, but not cooked.
When the meat with vegetables is ready, turn off the heat and transfer to plates.

calories:

Calories per 100 gr. product 129.3 kcal.

How to cook a salad with fennel, see the video:

What to remember

Fennel is added to salads, used for fish and meat dishes, sauces, broths, snacks and pastries.
If you are looking for what to cook with fennel for holiday table, choose recipes with beef and chicken.
Pickled fennel - delicious preparation for the winter.
Fennel salad and vegetable stew will help strengthen the immune system in the season of colds and energize.

Umbrella, reaching 1-2 meters in height. Also in Ancient Rome it was used as a condiment and medicine against many diseases. Fennel has a bright aroma and a pleasant sweetish taste.

By appearance fennel, the photo of which is presented in the article, resembles dill: it has a straight stem, pinnate leaves with filiform lobes with a whitish coating. The flower is a complex umbrella of bright yellow color. The fruit is a two seedling with a sweet taste. The root is fleshy, spindle-shaped. Flowering begins in mid-summer and continues until September.

Fennel grass (from cultivated species) is divided into ordinary (Voloshsky dill) and vegetable (Italian), with a more fleshy powerful stem. Both of them are well known to Russian gardeners.

This is a medicinal plant that was used in their healing practices by Avicenna and Hippocrates. It has also found its application in modern medicine. An infusion of this herb is an excellent expectorant and is used for coughs. Essential oil helps to improve intestinal motility and activates the excretory system of the kidneys. Fennel tea is an excellent diuretic that complements medications in therapy urolithiasis and also promotes in lactating women. Water prepared from the seeds of the plant is used as in the treatment of flatulence in infants. The roots are used as a laxative. Decoctions are used in the treatment of colds. In addition, the flavonoids and vitamins contained in the plant will help to cope with the blues and avert the danger of onset associated with a lack of heat and sunlight.

Vegetable fennel is an herb that has been successfully used in cooking. All parts of the plant can be eaten. Its seeds and leaves are used as flavorings in preparations for the winter. They serve as an excellent decoration in salads, first and second courses, as well as in the preparation of lemonades and infusions. Baked or stewed onions are a great light side dish for meat dishes. But the most advantageous combination of the taste of fennel with fish: cod, flounder, halibut, haddock. If you use it with ginger when stewing, they will further emphasize the taste of your dishes.

It should be remembered that every day the aroma harvested grass loses its brightness, so fennel bulbs, like its greens, should be used in the first 3-5 days after cutting. If this is not possible, the greens can be wrapped cling film and store in the refrigerator. When purchasing on the market, you should pay attention to the quality and freshness of the herb. Young, freshly cut bulbs are dense, light, with an anise aroma.

Fennel is a real natural pantry. The composition of the plant includes such important microelements for the human body as iron, zinc, chromium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, aluminum, copper.

Fennel belongs to the umbrella family, is a perennial horticultural crop that is widely used not only in cooking, but also in medicine. The closest relative of fennel is celery, but external and taste similarities can be compared with ordinary garden dill, so many people often confuse it. In the people, fennel is referred to as pharmacy dill. To understand what this plant is, you need to study in more detail its description, planting, care, as well as its scope.

Description

Pharmaceutical dill can be characterized as follows:

The plant itself is low, like grass.
The root system is large and fleshy, hollow straight shoots depart from it.
The stems are covered with small triangular ovoid leaves.
Inflorescences are represented by small yellow flowers, collected in a kind of baskets.
Fruits are called small seeds that have an oblong shape.
The stems and leaves of the plant are covered with a bluish tint all the time.
The flowering period begins in early summer, and ripened seeds appear closer to autumn.
This seasoning loves well-fertilized, fertile black soil, which is why fennel is found in the wild only in the Transcaucasus and Central Asia.

Dill seeds are located in the middle of the fruit, from which essential oils are made. In addition, most culinary experts in the world use the fruits of this plant as a condiment.

Fennel strongly resembles common dill in its structure, and these two plants belong to the umbrella family, and are used as medicines and seasonings. However, these cultures have a fairly large number of differences, which are as follows:

fennel has a more bushy texture, fleshy root system and powerful stems;
dill has a lesser spicy flavor. Also, the smell of fennel contains notes of anise, mint and tarragon;
dill seeds are much larger than ordinary dill;
fennel stalks are much juicier.

Fennel is one of the best known herbs for colds.

In addition, it should be borne in mind that the composition of the plants under consideration essential oils different, and therefore medicinal properties various. So, dill contains carminative and antispasmodic substances that help the body fight respiratory diseases and colds.

Garden dill is very rarely used in medicinal purposes, as its medical properties are very weak. It is most commonly used as a mild diuretic. In addition, it does not have any expectorant properties.

But it is worth knowing that ordinary and pharmacy dill has a fairly large amount of vitamins, which, when used correctly, have a positive effect on the whole organism as a whole. In addition, there are cases when two umbrella species are combined to enhance the therapeutic effect.

Planting and caring for fennel

Almost any gardener can grow such a crop on his own. land plot seed or seedling way. Seed cultivation is carried out as follows:

in the fall, collect ripened seed material;
for the winter, the seeds must be placed in a cool, dry place;
in the first decade of March, prepare a site for planting. To do this, it is necessary to fertilize the soil well with organic matter so that it is as fertile as possible, loosen it, make shallow rows;
in the production of rows, it is necessary to maintain a distance of 1.5-2 meters between them;
planting material is sown in the prepared bed;
after the plant has two full leaves, the seedlings will need to be thinned out. If on personal plot there is an empty area, extra shoots can be transplanted there.

As for the seedling planting method, it has the following order:

Since fennel is a picky plant, caring for it is not difficult, the only thing to do is:

water regularly;
constantly apply complex fertilizers;
loosen the soil;
remove weeds in a timely manner.

When implementing timely landing and proper care the stems and leaves of this crop can be harvested within a month and a half after planting.

Useful properties of pharmacy dill

Due to the fact that fennel contains a very large amount of a wide variety of vitamins and essential oils, it is widely used both in cooking and in medicine.

In cooking, young shoots with leaves are mainly used, which have a specific spicy aroma, aniseed taste. Also, many connoisseurs feel in it notes of mint and tarragon.

Most often, fennel fruits are used in cooking, of which industrial way produce concentrated oil. To give food a spicy flavor, it is used in the preparation of vegetable dishes, canned food and baking.

Everyone knows alcoholic drink absinthe, and so the recipe for its preparation includes the obligatory presence of fennel seeds.

But despite all the benefits this plant, it should be consumed with caution and in moderation, as foods with great content essential oils can provoke an allergic reaction even in a healthy person.

Medicinal uses of fennel

The well-known dill water is made from pharmacy dill, which is used to eliminate bloating and gas in infants, and sometimes in adults. It has a beneficial effect on the intestines, thereby improving its work. This product can be purchased at almost any pharmacy.

Dill water is made from oil and seeds of an umbrella crop, it has a carminative effect. It should be borne in mind that, despite the name, ordinary dill does not have this medicine no relation.

In addition, fennel has the following medicinal properties:

Tones the general condition of a person.
Normalizes the functioning of the nervous system.
Helps to get rid of insomnia and overexertion.
Due to the expectorant effect, it treats various diseases of the respiratory tract.
Eliminates cough and other symptoms of colds.
It has a good effect on the body with colds and chronic bronchitis.
It has a diuretic effect on the body.
Since the properties of fennel have a good effect on digestive system, have a beneficial effect on metabolism, it is often used for weight loss and various diets.

Also, pharmacy dill has a positive effect on the female body. It is able to save a woman from severe menstrual pain, and also, due to tonic and antispasmodic properties, helps to normalize monthly cycle when it is violated. In addition, fennel is used for cooking medicines that improve lactation in lactating women.

This plant and medical preparations and culinary additives based on it have quite wide range contraindications for use. Therefore, the intake of products containing fennel is recommended to be taken in small quantities, otherwise the essential oils contained in it may cause allergies.

There are also the following contraindications for its use:

pregnancy, its antispasmodic properties can cause premature birth;
epilepsy and other serious neurological disorders;
diarrhea and other digestive disorders. In this case, taking such a spice can aggravate the situation;
cardiac disorders, tachycardia and hypertension.

This text lists the most important contraindications. In addition to them, allergies can occur, which is expressed by the formation of a rash throughout the body or other negative reactions.

If any negative changes in the body occur while taking preparations containing fennel, they must be stopped and seek medical help.

In contact with

These plants are often confused because their leaves are almost the same shape. Yes, and in the pharmacy they sell fennel seeds called dill pharmacy. The people called him Volosh dill. Meanwhile, this different plants, although they are close relatives, and even able to mix with each other. Let's take a look at them one by one and then see how they differ.

Dill

Everyone knows what dill looks like. Even if you have never lived in a village and you do not have your own garden, such a plant can be found on store shelves even in winter.

Botanical description

It's a pretty tall annual herbaceous plant growth from 40 to 150 cm. The root is thin, taproot. The stem, as a rule, is single, although there are bush varieties in which up to a dozen stems extend from one root. At the base of the stem is a basal rosette of long pinnately dissected leaves. The leaves are located along the entire height of the stem, and the higher, the smaller they are.

The very top of the stem is decorated with an inflorescence in the form of a double umbrella. First, from 20 to 50 rays depart from the stem, which end with a reduced copy of the first umbrella. Flowers are small, yellow. Blooms in June - July. In August, seeds ripen in the form of flat elliptical achenes 3-5 mm long and 2-3 mm wide.

Chemical composition and nutritional value of dill

Dill leaves contain 2.5% protein, 0.5% fat and 6.3% carbohydrate. Their calorie content is low - 40 kcal / 100 g. The fiber content is 2.8%, which is 14% of the daily requirement (per 100 g of dill leaves).

They are also rich in vitamins, especially vitamin C (100 mg or 111% of the daily requirement in 100 g) and carotene (90% of the daily requirement in 100 g). There is relatively little folic acid in them - 6.8% of daily allowance. There is also vitamin E (11.3% of the requirement), vitamin B6 (7.5% of the norm), PP (7%) and B2 (5.6%).

From minerals we note calcium (22% of the norm in 100 g), magnesium (17.5%), potassium (13.4%), phosphorus (11.6%) and iron (8.9%), and from trace elements - manganese (63 .2%), copper (14.6%) and zinc (7.6%). The content of potassium, calcium and phosphorus in the seeds is 3-4 times higher than in the leaves.

Dill in cooking

Fresh dill leaves appear on our spring table almost the first, back in April, when the body is in dire need of vitamins. They are added to salads, soups, sauces and side dishes, they are part of many seasonings. Mashed potatoes with dill are much richer in flavor. And salted cucumbers without it are generally nonsense. Dill inflorescences with immature seeds are certainly added to pickled vegetables and mushrooms.

Dill: medicinal properties

The medicinal properties of dill have been known since ancient egypt. They knew about them in Persia and India. AT Ancient Greece he was highly appreciated by Hippocrates, and in the Middle Ages Avicenna dedicated a lot of space to him in his monumental work “Canon medical science". It was in the Middle Ages that dill spread widely throughout Europe. Poets sang its aroma in verse. Dill was credited with the ability to ward off evil spirits.

They treated not only diseases gastrointestinal tract, but also kidney, migraine, anemia, insomnia, eye diseases.

This folk experience confirms modern science, which confirmed that dill has the following properties:

antispasmodic;
anti-inflammatory;
choleretic;
diuretic;
vasodilating;
expectorant;
antiseptic.

Dill is also used in cosmetics to get rid of acne, whitening freckles.

Dill helps women get rid of cycle failures, but pregnant women need to be careful with it, since dill oil tones the uterus and, if used excessively, can lead to miscarriage.

For men, dill can help with problems with potency. No wonder in ancient Greece he was considered an aphrodisiac and pinned to clothes to enhance attraction. Dill dilates blood vessels, including in the cavernous body, so the rumor about this property was well founded. In addition, it relieves nervous excitement and eliminates self-doubt.

It's great for whitening teeth and eliminating bad breath, so chewing on a sprig of dill will do you good on a date.

However, dill should not be eaten by those who suffer from allergies. Unfortunately, the essential oils of this plant are quite a powerful allergen. It is also not recommended to get involved in the product for hypotensive patients.

Growing dill in the garden

It would seem that there is nothing easier - scattered seeds on the ground in early spring, slightly loosened the soil and after a month pick fragrant greens. Well, it is possible and so, but it is better to approach this matter according to all the rules of agronomic science. Then the harvest will be higher, and the greens will be juicier, and there will be much more vitamins in it.

The bed needs to be prepared since the fall: dig it to a depth of 20 cm and make compost. As soon as the snow melts, you can start planting. Dill seeds are small and plant them shallow. They germinate slowly due to the abundance of essential oils that prevent water absorption and swelling.

The first shoots will appear in 2-3 weeks. You can speed up this process by pre-soaking the seeds for 3 days in warm water(50 degrees). Some gardeners even scald them with boiling water. If you planted soaked seeds, then be sure to cover the bed with foil. Yes, and in the case of sowing with dry seeds, this is useful. Shoots will appear much earlier.

Seeds can be sown several times with an interval of two weeks. Then all summer you will be guaranteed fresh herbs. Dill is also planted before winter, just before the snow cover is established, so that the seeds do not have time to germinate.

You can plant dill even in January! To do this, the bed is cleared of snow, seeds are scattered and sprinkled with compost or peat.

Dill care is simple - just water it on time. Fertilizers do not require, enough compost applied before planting. But if the leaves begin to turn yellow ahead of time, then pour a weak solution of urea (1 tsp per bucket of water) or mullein (1: 10). It is useful to know that dill varieties are early-ripening, mid-ripening and late-ripening.

The first ones will please you with fragrant greens much earlier, but they will also bloom faster, their productivity is therefore lower. These include varieties such as Gribovsky and Umbrella. Sow them under the film in early spring.

Mid-season varieties ("Patterns", "Lesnogorodsky", "Borey", "Umbrella", "Richelieu", "Kibray") give more leaves, but the greens are ready for use a week later. They are useful for lightly salted cucumbers, and they are very tasty in salads.

Late varieties ("Buyan", "Salyut", "Alligator", "Amazon") - give the most big harvest, but it will have to wait 2-2.5 months.

Fennel

Unlike dill, fennel is much less common in vegetable gardens, especially in middle lane. And there is nothing surprising in this. Fennel is much more thermophilic, because it is a native of the south. The area of its growth in the wild does not extend beyond the North Caucasus.

Botanical description

This is a tall biennial or perennial herbaceous plant up to 1.8-2 m tall. The root is thickened, fleshy, fusiform. The stem is branched, round, furrowed, with a bluish-blue bloom. At the base of the stem, like dill, there is a basal rosette of long leaves. In vegetable varieties, leaf petioles grow together into a rounded head of cabbage, shaped like an onion. More small leaves also located along the entire height of the stem.

The very top of the stem is decorated with several inflorescences in the form of a double umbrella, only the number of rays they have is less than dill, no more than 20, and often only 3, and the inflorescences themselves smaller size. Blooms from July to September. The flowers are the same as those of dill. The fruits are two-seeded, up to 1 cm long, easily crumbling into two slices. They do not ripen at the same time, starting from early September and ending in October.

Chemical composition and nutritional value of fennel

By chemical composition dill and fennel are very close. The fennel bulb contains 1.24% protein, 0.2% fat and 7.3% carbohydrate. Calorie content - 31 kcal / 100 g. Fiber content - 3.1%, which is 15.5% of the daily requirement (per 100 g).

Vitamin C in fennel contains 12 mg, which is 13.3% of the daily requirement, carotene - 12.8% of the daily requirement per 100g, folic acid very little (1.2% of the daily requirement).

Calcium in the bulb is much less than in dill leaves (5.2% of the norm per 100 g), as well as magnesium (5.4%), potassium (5.4%), phosphorus (9.7%), iron (0.9%), manganese (10.2%), copper (10.0%) and zinc (1.7%). In green leaves, their content is greater, and in fruits even more than in leaves.

Fennel in cooking

Fennel bulb can be added to soups and salads, can be fried or stewed, combined with other vegetables to make fragrant stews, added to sauces, marinated. Especially it is combined with beef or chicken, giving the dishes a flavor that will be remembered for a long time. Greens can be used instead of dill, only the smell of dishes will be completely different, similar to anise or tarragon. The fruits are added to baked goods confectionery.

Fennel: medicinal properties

Fennel was known even by the ancient Egyptians, from whom the ancient Greeks also learned about it, who attributed miraculous and magical properties to it.

He has the same medicinal properties, as dill, but it acts noticeably stronger. Thanks to anethole in the composition of the essential oil, it has a much more pronounced expectorant and lactogenic effect, so it is better to use it for coughing and to increase milk in nursing mothers. For pregnant women, it is much less dangerous than dill, so they often use it for bowel problems.

Young fragrant fennel leaves are very similar to dill.

Fennel ordinary (Foeniculum vulgare) belongs to the Umbelliferae (celery) family and comes from the Mediterranean, Southern Europe and Asia Minor. Already in ancient times, the Romans, Egyptians, Greeks, Chinese valued it as a spice and medicine. This is a powerful plant with a branched stem and pinnately dissected leaves with narrow long lobes. It is interesting that the bases of the leaves in the lower part of the stem are not arranged in a spiral, as in many of its relatives, but in a fan - in the same plane. Fennel blooms in July, its golden inflorescences (umbrellas) are fragrant and honey-bearing. However, the most intense smell is emitted by ribbed two-seeded fruits (8 mm long), similar to dill fruits. In 1 g, there are 180-350 pieces of fruit. In a mature state, in September, fennel fruits contain 2–6% essential oil, which contains up to 60% anethole and 12% fenchon. The fruits are also saturated with biologically active substances, vitamins, there are fatty oils (12–18%), proteins (20%) and sugars - fennel is officially recognized for this. medicinal plant in 20 countries of the world. The well-known "dill water" helps infants get rid of pain in the tummy, it is prepared from fennel. In addition, the fruits of this plant improve lactation in nursing mothers, and they are also effective in bronchitis, stimulate appetite, act as a sedative, choleretic, disinfectant and laxative. Fennel promotes the absorption of fats and sugars, which protects the body from extra pounds and can be used in weight loss diets.

Therapeutic oil fennel

Fennel blossom in July

Fennel is demanding on soil fertility, photophilous and relatively cold-resistant. In the non-chernozem zone of Russia, it freezes out in severe winters, therefore it is cultivated as annual plant. Fragrant fruits saturated with medicinal oils in our country can only ripen in the southern regions, mainly in the Stavropol and Krasnodar Territory, as well as in Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, where mild warm winter, continuous summer period and good moisture supply. The low-growing and compact variety 'Krymsky' is resistant to shedding of seeds and yields earlier than the variety 'Chernovitsky', in the fruits of which there is more than 5% of essential oil. It takes 135–150 days from germination to fruit harvest. To collect good harvest for varieties 'Zefir', 'Martisor', 'Oksamit Kryma' and 'Pepper', lime-rich soil rich in organic matter is required. Sowing seeds is carried out (as well as dill) in early spring in open ground to a depth of 2–3 cm. When shoots appear in 12–18 days, it is very important that there are no weeds that can drown out weak shoots. High seed germination persists for one year, after 2–3 years it drops to 20–40%. If the soil is infertile, then during the season you need 1-2 top dressings with complex mineral fertilizer(up to 20 g/10 l) with the main trace elements. As soon as the central umbrella dries up, and the side ones are still green, they begin to collect seeds. Mature seeds are dried (to a moisture content of 13%), then stored in bags in a dry, ventilated room.

Juicy fennel heads are a healthy and nutritious delicacy valued in many countries.

For the sake of fruits, fennel is grown in Europe and America, in India and China. As a spice, these fruits are used in national cuisines Romania, Hungary, France, Spain and Italy. Fragrant fennel fruits are used for marinades, syrups, liqueurs and medicinal teas, they are added when pickling vegetables, in confectionery - pies, puddings, cookies. Fragrant fennel oil has found application in perfumery.

Both leaves and fusiform roots of fennel can be used as food, which resemble parsley roots in appearance and taste. They are pulled out of the ground and either pulled out entirely or cut off at a height of 3 cm above the soil level. From the remaining roots grow shoots with fragrant leaves. Green fennel leaves are harvested for culinary or medicinal purposes before flowering, as soon as the plant has reached a height of 20 cm. This can be repeated 2-3 times in a season.

fennel vegetable stalks

Not only the fruits and leaves of fennel are useful. A valuable nutritious product is a fleshy thickening of the petioles at the base of the basal leaves, the so-called "head of cabbage". It turns out that some varieties of fennel are able to form juicy sprouts with a spicy-refreshing taste and sweet anise smell, moreover, they are saturated with ascorbic acid (50–90 mg%), carotene (6–10 mg%), vitamins K, E, B, PP and mineral salts. The concentration of essential oils in sprouts and leaves (0.6–1.5%) is lower than in fruits.

In Europe, varieties of vegetable fennel of Italian selection are especially popular, which are adapted to a mild climate - 'Bologna', 'Florentine', 'Sicilian', 'Italian Round', 'Zelma' and 'Carmo'. These are plants up to 60 cm tall and 45 cm in diameter. All of them do not tolerate transplantation, they show a tendency to shoot - they throw out the peduncle. The varieties ‘Cantino’ (‘Cantino’), ‘Romanesco’ (‘Romanesco’) and ‘Zeta Fino’ (‘Zeta Fino’) are considered more advanced, which form large heads of medium density with a spicy taste. Dutch hybrid variety‘Rudy’, resistant to bud formation, can be harvested 80 days after sowing.

Russian gardeners also have in their arsenal good varieties of vegetable fennel of domestic selection. The most common and early variety‘Udalets’ was registered in 1996. During a warm summer, it forms a rosette of bluish leaves, and the whole plant grows up to 70 cm wide. In 40–55 days, a dense whitish head of cabbage 10–18 cm in diameter and weighing from 100 to 350 g is formed at the base of its shoot. At the beginning of 2000 ‑s, several mid-season varieties were bred - 'Luzhnikovsky Semko', 'Rondo', 'Soprano', 'Casanova', 'Aroma' and 'Corvette', giving sprouts weighing about 250 g in 60–70 days, plant height - 50 –60 cm. Vigorous and late ripening varieties include 'Leader' and 'Autumn Beauty', plant height reaches 180 cm, large bluish leaves are distinguished by a delicate aroma. The size of the sprout and the absence of a flowering shoot are determined by the timing of planting and growing conditions.

In central Russia, vegetable fennel is more reliable to grow through seedlings. With this method of cultivation, seeds are sown from early April to mid-May in boxes stuffed with light fertile soil. When shoots appear, thinning is carried out, then the shoots dive into peat-humus pots. Fennel does not tolerate transplanting well. Seedlings with 2–3 leaves in pots are planted in open ground after the June frosts, providing each plant with a feeding area of 50x20 cm. Seedlings are regularly loosened and watered. The lack of moisture stimulates the formation of a peduncle. Vegetable fennel loves sandy and loamy soil, demanding on fertility, especially on the content of boron in the soil. As the fleshy petioles thicken, hilling is carried out for 2-3 weeks so that the sprouts become sweeter and whiter, while almost half of their height is sprinkled with earth. Hilling can be replaced by wrapping with thick paper. Harvesting begins at the time when full-fledged heads of cabbage with a diameter of 8–10 cm are formed. After they are harvested, the leaves are removed and the lower part of the stem is cut off. Store sprouts in dense plastic bags in the refrigerator at 5-10°C.

Anise-flavoured sprouts are used both raw and after cooking, for example, they are stewed or boiled, adding butter with breadcrumbs, meat and fish soups are prepared, vegetable salads and diet meals. Spicy leaves can be added to curds and cheese dishes. Shoots, leaves and umbrellas for flavor are placed when pickling cucumbers, canning tomatoes, sauerkraut. Fennel is part of the dry curry seasoning.

Some recipes with fennel:

"Dill water" from fennel

Take 1 teaspoon of crushed fennel fruit and pour 1 cup of boiling water. Insist 30-40 minutes. (possible in a thermos), then filter and slightly sweeten. Give 1 teaspoon to children 3 times a day for 15 minutes. before feeding.

fennel tea

Take 2-3 teaspoons of crushed fruits and pour 1 cup of boiling water, insist in a thermos for 30 minutes. Take 1/3 cup 3-4 times a day for coughs, bronchitis, whooping cough and asthma, as an antispasmodic, as well as for poor digestion and insomnia.

Fennel salad with apples

Chop 2 heads of fennel, then grate an apple of sour taste on a coarse grater. Add lemon juice, parsley and salt to taste.

Vegetable salad with fennel

Coarsely chop vegetable fennel and cucumbers, add tomato slices, chop finely onion or leeks. Salt and pepper, season with sour cream and sprinkle with chopped green fennel or dill leaves.

stewed fennel

Finely chop the fennel heads, stew in butter with onions until softened. Add some meat broth and toasted flour. Before serving, season with sour cream and fennel leaves.

Cottage cheese casserole with fennel

Boil 1-2 heads of fennel until softened, mash to a puree and mix with 250 g of semi-fat cottage cheese. Add sliced boiled egg, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of starch, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of butter, salt and pepper to taste. Mix everything until smooth, put in a mold, greased with oil. Bake 40 minutes until done.