John Myers
The sweet taste of fennel seeds, reminiscent of aniseed, gives many dishes a characteristic aroma. The fruits of the fennel plant can also have a beneficial effect on digestion. Discover the small grains with us!
What can you cook with fennel seeds?
Fennel seeds can usually be found dried whole or as a powder on spice shelves. Both forms can be used in many ways. You can use the whole or roughly chopped seeds to flavor bread and rolls, brew a fennel seed tea, season meat, and sausages, pickle vegetables, or season curries, fish dishes, and stews. If the fennel seed is ground, it goes well in fine sauces and cakes. All fennel recipes that use the whole vegetable plant can also be refined with fennel seeds. If you’re cooking or baking a dish that has anise on the ingredients list, you can use fennel seeds instead. Usually, you need a little more of the replacement.
The health benefits of fennel seeds
Fennel seeds not only taste delicious, like fennel in general, they can also relieve digestive problems. In the case of flatulence or abdominal pain, fennel has an effect that is antispasmodic. If you chew fennel seeds before eating, it is said to stimulate the appetite and also drive away bad breath. The essential oil in the fennel fruits can also help with coughs and colds. However, it has not been scientifically proven that fennel seeds can support weight loss or promote breast growth. This also applies to the alleged milk-forming effect that breastfeeding women sometimes want to take advantage of.
Harvest fennel seeds and eat them raw
If you have grown fennel in your garden yourself, you can harvest the delicious fennel seeds after the plant has bloomed. To do this, the herb is cut off at the bulbs: you can eat the raw fennel seeds directly. Alternatively, the withered herb can be tied into bouquets and hung upside down to dry. The seeds will then fall out on their own.
By the way, there are three varieties: vegetable, sweet and bitter fennel. All three are edible, but for recipes such as our fennel spaghetti, the vegetable fennel is usually used, with which the bulb is eaten. Bitter fennel is often used for medicinal purposes.
