Jeremy Vincent’s tips for fennel, including salad with trout recipe

Work with it, and you will find that the aromatic plant lends itself well to a wide variety of foods.

FENNEL has been around for centuries. It has had a checkered career in the kitchen, being out of fashion not so long ago, only to have made quite a celebrated return in recent years as a trendy ingredient to add crunch and flavour to cooking.

Don’t let an aversion to black jelly beans keep you away from fennel. Native to the Mediterranean region, this licorice-flavoured herb is a member of the parsley family.

Work with it, and you will find that the aromatic plant lends itself well to a wide variety of foods.

Here’s a simple salad matching the distinctive fennel flavour with an equally strong component of smoked fish. It’s great as a side salad or a full course on its own.

SHAVED FENNEL SALAD WITH SMOKED TROUT

Serves 4

3 whole fennel bulbs

2 lemons

1 bunch fresh dill

1 bunch celery with leaves

1 small red onion

4 tbsp toasted pine nuts

2 smoked trout fillets or sliced smoked trout (about 200g)

Olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Side salad or main: Fennel salad with smoked trout. Picture: Dannika Bonser

Trim the tops and stalks off all of the fennel bulbs (and bottoms). Reserve the fronds from one bulb and discard the rest. Slice the fennel bulbs in half, then core and slice very thinly (a mandoline is ideal if you have one, otherwise a sharp knife with a steady hand) into a large bowl. Squeeze one of the lemons over the sliced fennel and drizzle with about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil.

Season with just a little salt (the trout is salty) and a generous amount of black pepper.

Thinly slice the red onion and add to the fennel. Toss the fennel and onion mixture lightly with your hands.

Add the celery leaves (about half a cup) and chopped fresh dill (about half a cup) and toss again lightly with your hands. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper if necessary.

Shred the trout fillet into bite-size pieces (or cut the slices into strips) and carefully toss through the vegetable mixture. Try not to break up the fish pieces too much. Drizzle over a little juice from the remaining lemon and a little olive oil, sprinkle over the toasted pine nuts and reserved fennel fronds. Serve immediately.

SOME MORE EASY WAYS WITH FENNEL

ONE of the simplest, yet most effective, ways of cooking fennel is to braise it.

Cut the bulbs into quarters, from tip to root, and remove just enough of the core so that the quarters still hold together.

Melt some butter in a frying pan, add the fennel plus about 150ml chicken or vegetable stock. Season with salt and pepper, cover and braise for 20-25 minutes until tender. Great with fish or pork.

To use as part of a roasted vegetable mix: bring a saucepan of water to the boil and preheat the oven to 200C. Slice the fennel or cut it into 8 long chunks. Plunge it into the boiling water, blanch for 1 minute then drain.

Roughly chop an eggplant, zucchini, red or yellow capsicum and red onion.

Toss all the vegetables (including the blanched fennel) together and spread in a roasting dish. Drizzle with 4-5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, salt and black pepper, and roast for 25 minutes, stirring once or twice during roasting.

Remove from the oven and toss through 12 or so torn, fresh basil leaves. Serve as a side dish, starter or main course vegetarian.

FENNEL BASICS

LOOK for small, heavy, white bulbs that are firm and free of cracks, browning, or moist areas. The stalks should be crisp, with feathery, bright-green fronds. Wrapped in plastic, fennel keeps for just a few days in the refrigerator; the flavour fades as it dries out.

FENNEL stalks can take the place of celery in soups and stews, and can be used as a “bed” when roasting chicken and meats.

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USE fronds as a garnish, or chop them and use as you would other herbs, like dill or parsley. Chopped fennel works especially well in Italian tomato sauces, but add it late in the cooking process so the flavour isn’t diluted.

TRIM the stalks 2-3cm above the bulb.

IF YOU want pieces to stay together for grilling, keep the root end intact. Otherwise, trim about 2cm off the root end before cooking.

TO SLICE fennel, stand the bulb on the root end and cut vertically.