Fennel – A Flavour Sensation

24 October 2017 By

In one of our recent newsletters I talked about how this flavour sensation fennel, came to my rescue while in the midst of preparing a curry. I was unable to find a single onion in my crisper and unwilling to hit the stores just for that one item.

using fennel in my kitchen

My surprise at the depth of flavour the simple addition of fennel instead of using the traditional onion was totally unexpected. I used the whole bulb, including fronds and the feathery leaves. Now my home crisper is filled with these beauties as I dream up new ways to match them with my favourite flavours. Using fennel is such a lovely and sneaky way to bring more fibre, vitamins and minerals to your everyday meals.

Since my discovery earlier this year, I have turned to this wispy bulbous fennel multiple times for a range of dishes I prepare for sampling at various events and festivals. Nowadays even if I have plenty of onions on hand, I can’t resist mixing up the chopped onions with some minced fennels. And it certainly seems to be making an impact on our customers who often comment on the depth of flavour our dishes carry.

using fennel in your kitchen

I encourage you to use fennel with any of my 11 Indian concentrate curry pastes. Whether it’s a stove top curry, a tagine braise, oven cooking a stew or using a slow cooker or pressure cooker, I guarantee brilliant results.

When cooking in a slow cooker with lamb shoulder or leg, goat or mutton, chicken, pork or stewing beef, I add fennel to the base with chunky vegetables like carrots, sweet potato, royal blue potatoes or pumpkin. I also tend to add frozen peas, spinach, kale or beans, and tinned lentils, tomatoes and/or legumes. All these additions make for a huge pot to feed plenty and it also bulks up everyone’s fibre and plant intake.

for the love of fennel

My tiny gamble has paid off in such an unexpected way. Because now I find myself constantly thinking how to incorporate other vegetables into my base curries. There’s simply no wasting anymore …. just finely chop or mince in a food processor other vegetables that can match the same results as the fennel does such as mushrooms, carrots, eggplants, spring onions, turnips, radish and daikon.

Add these vegetables to your base pot with some good olive oil before adding our concentrate curry pastes, chopped tomatoes and herbs. More fibre, more deliciousness and zero wastage. I am still in love with fennel but continue to experiment with all sorts of other vegetables and so addicted to this way of cooking.

recipes with flavour sensation fennel

I have developed some beautiful recipes using fennel as an ingredient. With these ideas to start you off, you can’t go wrong.

I encourage you to incorporate this flavour sensation into your favourite Latasha’s Kitchen recipes!!

fennel facts

The fennel bulb contains moderate levels of Vitamin C. This vitamin helps the human body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful, pro-inflammatory free radicals.

The fennel bulbs also have an excellent level of the heart-friendly electrolyte, potassium. Potassium helps to reduce blood pressure and rate of heartbeats by countering effects of sodium.

Fennel also contains small amounts of minerals such as copper, iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc and selenium.