Steenberg Organic Fennel Seeds, 40g

Organic fennel seeds (actually the fruit) are from an aromatic herb traditionally used in Europe in breads but also with fish, vegetables and in curries. Our Organic fennel seeds have a taste suggestive of anise, being warm and spicy with an almost medicinal freshness and come packed in a 40g glass jar.

Fennel is an annual plant, Foeniculum vulgare dulce, it's a culinary species related to wild fennel, Foeniculum vulgare. It is a small herb that grows to 90cm (35 inches) high and has soft, celery-like stems, with numerous, frond-like, green leaves that give it a ferny appearance. Fennel plants grow masses of bright-yellow, umbrella-shaped blossoms that flower in summer, followed by the fennel fruit (called fennel seeds in the spice industry) which develop in autumn. The plant has a mild anise aroma.

To harvest fennel, the stems are cut, the seed heads dried in the shade before being threshed to separate out the dried fennel fruits. The dried fennel seeds are yellow with a hint of green (the greener the seeds the higher the quality). Fennel seeds are 5-7mm (0.25 inches long) and many of the seeds are split into two. Along the side of the fennel seeds there are a few pale, really thin ribs that run along their length. Like the plant itself, the seeds have a faint anise aroma; the fennel seeds taste more strongly of anise and are warm, spicy, cleansing and refreshing.