One of my favorite museums, The Cloisters, has a lovely blog devoted to the beautiful gardens on their grounds. My interest was piqued by a post on fennel, a staple of my diet since childhood.What I learned was that fennel, in addition to its many uses for both food and medicine, was also considered to be a powerful amulet and one of the nine plants that could protect one from the nine poisons believed to cause illness during the Middle Ages. For this reason, fennel in the Cloisters is planted in the bed devoted to plants used in Medieval magic, rather than the beds for medicinal or culinary plants.
I see this wonderful plant in a whole new light.
2 comments:
Oh, yes! My formerly favorite restaurant served candied fennel along with basil, grape tomatoes, and goat cheese, on bruschetta. I say "formerly favorite" because they dropped it from the menu. Candied fennel is heavenly.
Candied fennel? Sounds yummy!
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