Fennel was a popular herb among the Chinese, Indians, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans in ancient times, when it was believed to have miraculous healing powers 'against all fevers'. It reached Europe in the early Middle Ages, where it was introduced by the Romans.
Fennel is native to the Mediterranean but it has become naturalized in many countries of the temperate zone. It is raised commercially in France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Romania, as well as in the former USSR, China and Japan and Argentina. It is also grown on a small scale in herb gardens. The leaves are used to flavour fish soups and sauces and in salads. In Italy it is preserved in vinegar and salt and eaten as a vegetable (Italian dill). The seeds are used to flavour bread (similar to anise), sprinkled on rolls, in pickling gherkins and vegetables and in vegetable dishes. Italians sprinkle ground fennel on barbecued meat.
Pontefract cakes and other sweets from licorice are made there to this day, but from imported, not home-grown roots. The liquid extract may also be used in making delicate sweet drinks and to disguise the unpleasant taste of some drugs. In Victorian times it was the custom to eat licorice every Friday as a purgative.
Black lozenges called `succus liquiritiae', made from the residue obtained after evaporating off the water in which licorice root has been boiled, not only have a pleasant spicy flavour but also dissolve mucus and thus act as an expectorant. For this reason licorice is also used in medicine.
Fennel is generally grown as a biennial. The seeds - double achenes - are sown outdoors in the open in July. If properly tended plants may yield seeds for three to four successive years.
The seeds do not ripen at the same time; a single plant carries them at various stages of development. For this reason they arc harvested in succession by cutting out only the ripe sections of the umbels. These ;Ire then spread out and dried slowly on large sheets of canvas to retain the seeds, which separate readily from the stalks. The temperature must not exceed 35C (95F)
Fennel is native to the Mediterranean but it has become naturalized in many countries of the temperate zone. It is raised commercially in France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Romania, as well as in the former USSR, China and Japan and Argentina. It is also grown on a small scale in herb gardens. The leaves are used to flavour fish soups and sauces and in salads. In Italy it is preserved in vinegar and salt and eaten as a vegetable (Italian dill). The seeds are used to flavour bread (similar to anise), sprinkled on rolls, in pickling gherkins and vegetables and in vegetable dishes. Italians sprinkle ground fennel on barbecued meat.
Pontefract cakes and other sweets from licorice are made there to this day, but from imported, not home-grown roots. The liquid extract may also be used in making delicate sweet drinks and to disguise the unpleasant taste of some drugs. In Victorian times it was the custom to eat licorice every Friday as a purgative.
Black lozenges called `succus liquiritiae', made from the residue obtained after evaporating off the water in which licorice root has been boiled, not only have a pleasant spicy flavour but also dissolve mucus and thus act as an expectorant. For this reason licorice is also used in medicine.
Fennel is generally grown as a biennial. The seeds - double achenes - are sown outdoors in the open in July. If properly tended plants may yield seeds for three to four successive years.
The seeds do not ripen at the same time; a single plant carries them at various stages of development. For this reason they arc harvested in succession by cutting out only the ripe sections of the umbels. These ;Ire then spread out and dried slowly on large sheets of canvas to retain the seeds, which separate readily from the stalks. The temperature must not exceed 35C (95F)
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