FENNEL.
A bitter-sweet aromatic odor and flavor are strong in the fennel group of the umbrella flowered family, which includes parnsips and car rots, and a dozen more garden vegetables familiar to us all. The peculiar odor is found in the oil that pervades all parts of the plant, particularly the seeds, which are used in making liqueurs, and in certain medicines.
Cultivated fennels are not far removed from their wild ancestors, which range as robust weeds over southern Europe and parts of England, and run wild from gardens in places, in this country and abroad. For centuries fennels have been used but they have not been long under cultiva tion. The wild plants furnished the supply needed.
The common fennel grows four feet high. Its leaves are boiled and served with different kinds of fish, or minced raw to season a sauce for salmon or mackerel. This species is grown in gardens.
The Florence fennel has at base a bulk-like enlargment, due to the swollen condition of the bases of the leaves. The tops of the plant and the root are cut off, and the blanched leaves boiled till tender. They taste like celery. Often they are eaten raw.
Naples has a famous fennel that grows no where else. The fleshy flower stalks, enclosed in the broad leaf bases, are served raw, under the name, " Carosella." This delicacy is to be had all the year, thanks to the pride and skill of the Neapolitan market gardeners.
The fennel of India is used as medicine and for seasoning some curries. A South African fennel yields a thick, aromatic, edible root.
The giant fennel of southern Europe is so rank that nothing but buffaloes of Apulia can eat it. The pith is used for tinder in Sicily.