Apple, Fennel and Blue Cheese Slaw
Easy to Grow: Consider Adding the Crisp Crunch of Fennel to Salads
Aug 31, 2009
For some, fennel is one of those mystery items in the produce section. It shouldn’t be. Both its flavor and texture add wonderful contrast to many salads. And besides, it keeps evil spirits away. More fun fennel facts below.
This recipe calls for St. Agur blue cheese. Roquefort would be a great choice for this salad, too, but there are many wonderful French blue-veined cheeses to choose from. See what your cheesemonger has available to taste.
Apple, Fennel and Blue Cheese Slaw
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 medium bulb fennel
- ½ small green cabbage, cored
- 1 medium Granny Smith apple
- 1 Tbsp Sherry vinegar
- Pinch each: sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3 Tbsp good quality extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
- 3 ounces crumbled St. Agur (or other) blue cheese
Method
- Cut and discard a thick slice at the base of the fennel bulb and trim stalks down to about an inch (3cm) from the bulb. Wash thoroughly.
- Slice the cabbage and fennel very thinly. A mandolin is perfect for this, but a sharp knife will do the trick, too.
- Half and core the apple and slice it thinly as well. Immediately toss it in a large bowl with the cabbage, fennel and the vinegar to keep it from turning brown.
- Add the seasoning, sugar, olive oil and toss again. Fold in the walnuts and cheese.
About Fennel:
(In French, Fenouil, a.k.a. Florentine Fennel, or in Italian, Finocchio, in anglicized Greek: Marathon)
Genus: Foeniculum Species: F. vulgare
Fennel, a member of the parsley and celery family, is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean, but it now grows wild in many parts of the world, especially on dry soils near sea-coasts and on river-banks, including China, India, Egypt, Australia, North and South America.
The Egyptian and the Chinese have been using it since the Bronze Age.
Greeks and Romans Lauded Fennel
- In Greek mythology, fennel features in the story of Prometheus, who stole fire from heaven and carried the flame to mankind in the stalk of a fennel plant, which burns slowly.
- Fennel became a symbol of victory for the Greeks when they defeated the Persians at Marathon in 490 BC, the battle taking place in a field of fennel.
- Pliny the Elder specified it in 22 remedies and fennel’s spread often parallels the Roman Empire's conquests.
- Some traditions identify fennel as one of the items the Apostles ate at the last supper.
Medieval Uses of Fennel
On a more practical side, in medieval times fennel was believed to be an appetite suppressant and the seeds were kept on hand, especially by the poor, to help people endure long periods of time between meals, or on days of religious feasting.
Charlemagne believed so strongly in the healing properties of fennel that, in the year 812, he declared that fennel was essential in every imperial garden.
Chaucer records that fennel was one of nine sacred herbs of Anglo-Saxons, who considered it to have special properties in fighting off disease. Fennel was also thought to repel witches and evil spirits, and for that reason it was jammed into keyholes and hung up on doorways and windows, especially on Midsummer's Eve when demons were believed to come out and dance in celebration of the summer solstice.
Fennel grows easily to 5-6 foot height. In addition to any more magical powers, it is a good source of potassium, vitamins A and C, iron, folic acid, phosphorus, calcium and fiber.
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