Sweet cicely. The seeds are long, up to a foot, ridged and black with an aniseed flavour. They can be used in salads when young or as a spice as they grow older. The leaves have a smell reminiscent of myrrh and aniseed and can be added to soups, omelettes, drinks and liquors. The fruits, collected before they ripen and then dried, can be used to give meats a liquorice-like flavour, and the roots can be used as a vegetable.
Samphire (US: sea bean). A fleshy plant which grows on rocks near the sea. Can be used as a salad green or as a cooked vegetable. It has a short season and is not a cultivated crop, so it is quite uncommon. It may be pickled in white wine vinegar with a little sugar.
A smooth minced (US: ground) pork salami from Umbria flavoured with fennel seeds, made with about 75% lean pork and about 25% fat. In Tuscany, the more famous version is called finocchiona.
Fennel. A tall, wild form which is a relation of celery and which flowers in summer. When young it has an appearance rather similar to dill, but when crushed, the leaves give off the familiar anise scent of fennel. The flowers are yellow, umbelliferous and produce elongated aromatic seeds. Fennel should not be grown close to dill as they will hybridise and produce useless seedlings. Baby leaves can be used whole in salads or laid on fish for cooking. Also known as Florence Fennel, the swollen stem is cooked as a vegetable. The aniseed flavour of stems, leaves and seeds makes it a perfect partner for pork, chicken or fish. Italians favour the male, flatter fennel bulb, which they call "maschi".
Fennel slices blanched, coated in béchamel sauce, topped with grated cheese and baked until bubbling and browned.
"Fennel pie." Fennel slices blanched, placed in a layer in a casserole, covered with a mixture of tomato sauce, anchovies, mozzarella, olives and grated Parmesan cheese and baked.
