This bulb can be a brute, so tame its aniseedy notes with cream and lemon
When I can get my hands on a perfect bulb of fennel, its flesh smooth, white and unblemished, I like to shred it finely into slices so thin that they are almost transparent and toss them with olive oil and the juice of a lemon and its own finely chopped fronds. I usually go heavy on the black pepper, too, but use only the merest pinch of salt. It is a salad that carries just the faintest note of aniseed, but one that marries contentedly with a piece of lemon sole and is almost the perfect accompaniment for salmon.
Fennel is at its most successful when used sparingly, and with its more brutish aniseed character calmed by lemon juice, cream or yogurt. Slicing the bulb too thickly produces an unpleasantly strong note that can dominate any other ingredient. A little goes a long way. Citrus is fennel’s friend, either in a blood-orange salad with green olives or sautéed with olive oil, lemon juice and a dash of white vermouth.
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