The best way to cook meals full of flavor is to use ingredients that are in season where you live. The winter months do not give loads of possibilities in the Lake Geneva region, so we sometimes get the impression we’re eating the same old things over and over. Potatoes, and then more potatoes.

Photo courtesy of Five Prime.

Fennel is a good way to add a bit of spice, while awaiting the wider variety of choice that comes with spring.

Fennel flavor combinations and recipe ideas

There are so many ways to cook fennel I can’t name them. It can be chopped finely and added to an ordinary Bolognese or other sauce, along with a few fennel seeds, to give the flavor an original edge.

Fennel goes beautifully with oranges. To make a simple, healthy and tasty sauce for white fish, chop the fennel finely, sauté a bit, then add orange segments and cook until you get the consistency you like.

You can also slice it thinly, grill it until it starts to brown, then drizzle it with olive oil and add a few orange segments. Another variation would be to sprinkle it with grated Parmesan when it is cooked, and put back under the grill until the Parmesan starts to brown.

You can make a salad by slicing it thinly, drizzling olive oil over it, and adding oranges and walnuts. You can throw in some fennel seeds or aniseed too if that’s to your liking.

One of my favorite ways of cooking fennel comes from The Silver Spoon. Simply cut and trim 1 kg / 2 1/4 lbs of fennel bulbs and combine in a saucepan with one clove of chopped garlic, 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil, and about 200 ml / 7 fluid oz. of white wine. Cover and cook until tender, about 20 or 25 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Vary these flavor combinations to make your own pasta or meat/fish sauces, salads or even main dishes and liven up the limited number of local vegetables available during these long winter months.

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