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Wild fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) has always belonged to the Sardinian food tradition. It a perennial herb belonging to the Umbelliferae family, featuring fresh stems and seeds mainly enjoyed as a condiment. The fresh stems, collected and cleaned with a damp cloth, are usually cut into 1.96/3.93-inch portions and immediately consumed; on the other hand, the infructescences are collected at the end of summer and rubbed with hands to separate the seeds. The latter are dried in the air on cotton sheets and then stored in hermetically sealed tin or glass containers.

The fresh stems are used to prepare brined olives, to add flavour to brandy, in the “favata” (a poor dish, based on scraps and cheap pork, made with cabbage, onion, borage and, indeed, fennel), and to add a twist to many different soups, as well as a basic ingredient of the Sardinian sausage and bacon.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)