bronze fennel

i'm not gonna lie.

the most important ingredient of a pickle is the fruit or vegetable that is being pickled. the more in season, in fact, the more just-picked it is, the better. local and organic even better. because ultimately that is what you are preserving. and why...

would you waste time preserving anything less than the best?

that said, today i'm not here to talk about cucumbers, or carrots or beets or plums even...

cause i got an ace up my sleeve and since we're not playing poker, i'll clue you in:

herbs and spices are the key to blowing your pickles out of the water. (and who i ask you does not want to blow their pickles out of the water?) what i am saying is: you're friends will swoon, your parents will tell their friends, and take credit for your prowess - both of them, and like it or not, any pregnuts you know, will call you more than once in the middle of the night to see if they can 'borrow' a cup of pickles. and why?

because your pickles will have herb and spice combos that all of the above mentioned have never dreamed of in their lives of store-bought pickles.

case in point:



see that gorgeous guy kicking back, behind the lovage and spearment?
he's bronze, and he knows he's delicious.

to clarify, what i am talking about is the herb fennel as opposed to the bulbous vegetable known as Florence fennel or finnochio found in the vegetable section at most food markets. it's got a clean anise flavor, a mild licorice tang, without the 'green' or parsley flavor that dill has.

it's like dill without the fill.

don't get me wrong i like dill, what kind of a pickle proliferater would i be if i didn't like dill?

but fennel, fennel pickles, they wreak havoc.
...and i like that even more.

so plant some bronze fennel today, or some green if you can't find bronze (it's the same just a different color). if you don't have a garden, plant one in a large pot, because it can get pretty big - for use in lots and lots of pickles! unlike dill, which doesn't like to be replanted (meaning if you want to grow some its best to start from seeds) it is fine being replanted. so you can get a little seedling at your nearest garden center or farmers market and pop it in the dirt.

and if you're in zone 7 or above it'll come up every year! in fact, i'm in zone 5 and to my surprise about 2 weeks ago i saw some fronds peaking out of the ground.

and look!


so when it is time to pickle those lovely cukes, or carrots, and we're talking about fronds or umbels,
you'll have the same ace up your sleeve....