Fennel Stew
Ingredientes
A hearty countryside soup if ever there was one, fennel stew is not only a wonderfully aromatic and flavourful dish, it is also the perfect partner for good digestion, especially when the fennel used is wild. This herbaceous plant is commonly found across the Mediterranean basin, though it also grows in parts of Asia and South America.
Although the plant is put to all kinds of culinary uses, it is even used in making liqueurs and other alcoholic drinks, its rich essential oils also make it an important ingredient in the perfume industry.
In Malaga, fennel stew is very popular, especially inland, with the arrival of spring. This wild herb turns up in many dishes of Malagueno cuisine, from dressing olives and pickles to seasoning salads and soup-based stews like this one, where it makes digesting the pulses and meat much easier.
Instructions
Soak the white beans and chickpeas 24 hours ahead so they turn out, as they say in Malaga, “mantecosos” (creamy and tender).
Fry the garlic and the peppers, chopped into small pieces beforehand. Once fried, add the chopped tomato and fry the mixture together. In many households the tomato is peeled first.
In a pot with plenty of water, add the white beans, and once the water is hot add the chickpeas.
Add the fried mixture, the pork fat and the meat. Cook everything together for an hour.
In a separate small saucepan, put cold water and add the fennel and chopped chard, and once it comes to the boil add it to the pot with the rest of the ingredients.
Check that the chickpeas and beans are cooked; once done, add the whole black pudding and season with salt to taste. Leave for another 3 minutes so the black pudding releases its flavour into the rest of the stew.
Curiosity
Charlemagne wrote a set of ordinances, the “Capitulare de Villis”, with very strict rules that had to be scrupulously followed in every town conquered by the emperor.
Those ordinances reflected a clear political and organisational intent for the smooth running of the conquered villages, covering many different areas from culture to trades, medicine, textiles, hunting and food.
Well, one of those mandatory rules was that certain herbs had to be grown, and fennel was one of them, thanks to its highly valued healing properties.
