Fennel and orange escabèche

But what on earth is an escabèche, you may ask. I didn't know either, because on the picture coming with my recipe it really did just look like a fricassée, or maybe sautéed fennel. So I asked someone trustworthy and knowledgeable.

No, not him. He's a fraud and a show-off. Besides fennels have an excellent eyesight.

Emile Littré tells us that "escabécher" is a verb that means prepping sardins before they are being canned. Slightly more explicit is the etymology: from the Provence dialect, the privative prefix "es-" (off) and the substantive "cabessa", the head. Beheading sardins. Ok, we're getting somewhere.

We'll trust Emile instead, in the hope that IQ must be conversely proportional to physical beauty (or its lack thereof, rather).

So really what it is, is chopped up fennel (du fenouil coupé en rondelles). My recipe comes from this lovely book - most things in there are unfeasible, but little resists my fertile (some might say rampant) imagination. This one, by Argentinian chef Raquel Carena, sounds really easy though, so I thought what the heck, let's give it a shot (qu'à cela ne tienne, voyons ce que ça donne). And also I happen have new garlic (de l'ail nouveau), still in its pink panties, plump and sweet. I'll just skip the bunch of coriander, as I'm not terribly keen on it (ça me dit rien).

1kg of spring fennel bulbs
30g golden sultanas
30g whole blanched almonds
1 head of spring garlic
6 coriander seeds
1 bunch of coriander (I abstained)
1 organic orange
10cl olive oil
a pinch of saffron

Vaguely slice the fennel and the garlic lengthwise, so that you get "petals". Blanch the almonds if not already done, take the skin off.

Little strippers - they are shameless (ces petites entraîneuses sont sans scrupules)

Cut them up roughly, roast them in the oven if it's not too warm outside, otherwise just quickly toast them in a pan. Heat up part of the olive oil (3cl) in a dutch oven, or a wok in my case. Throw in the fennel and garlic and fry it for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Then add the sultanas, the crushed almonds, the coriander seeds, the zest of the orange and the saffron. Season with salt and pepper. Leave to simmer on low heat for 10 minutes (I covered it at that stage). Then add the orange juice and the remaining olive oil. Stop cooking when the fennel is still al dente, leave to cool down and serve cold.

Ahah, far less talkative when hacked in small bits and fried, aren't you now.

AND he can't nick my glasses (il peut pas me faucher mes lunettes) without his stringy little arms. Good riddance.

Comments

[We Are Never Ful]

A beautiful blog! I absolutely love escabèche in all different variations. Many cultures have their own version of it - many Caribbean cultures. This one looks fabulous.

[Cathy]

Je viens de faire un petit tour et j'aime beaucoup ton blog !

[claire]

Je n'aime pas le fenouil, mais j'adore ta plume et ton humour! Et tes photos !
Je n'ai qu'à imaginer que ce fenouil est du céleri et miam!

[Miss Diane]

Comment finira le bulbe de fenouil qui attend sagement dans mon frigo!

[mamina]

Ta dernière photo est à tomber. Ca a l'air trop bon.