In the medieval sources, the parts used of finocchio (or feniculum in Latin, spelled in many ways) are generally the seeds and leaves, although sometimes the authors mention the flowers, used to make sauces or fritters. Biancho de finocchio (or feniculum album, which is the same), instead, means Florence fennel, a variety that seems to be absent from the ancient sources. We find it especially in the Liber de Coquina and Anonimo Toscano’s Libro de la Cocina, where the Florence fennel is simmered, stewed, or stir-fried. In the Liber de Coquina we even find a recipe for the familia, the servants of the household, with fennel, pasta, pepper, and meat.
The methods are simple. In some preparations, the Florence fennel is parboiled and then fried with pork fatback or oil, depending on whether it is a lean or fat day, with the addition of other ingredients such as eggs, leeks, and spices. A typical combination is Florence fennel and cabbage, with the addition of various ingredients such as broth, eggs, spices, and meat. Maestro Martino recommends cooking it the same way as cabbage, but finely minced with pepper and salted meat or oil.
The recipe we are going to prepare today appears in both the Liber de Coquina and Anonimo Toscano’s cookbook, with a slight difference: the recipe in the Latin source requires just saffron, cinnamon, Florence fennel, poached eggs, and chicken; the variant in the Libro de la Cocina adds pepper, which gives the dish a pleasant, spicy complexity, and is prepared with all kinds of meat.
In the text, we find only a list of ingredients with scarce instructions on how to prepare this dish. We have chosen to make a soup with hen and fennel, serving it with poached eggs, but if you prefer, cook the hen and use the broth to simmer the fennel and poach the eggs, then serve the deboned and minced meat with the fennel cut into slices and the eggs, with or without broth. According to Maestro Martino and the Liber de Coquina, the liquids to poach the eggs are water, wine, broth, or even milk.
All the possibilities are equally plausible because, as is often the case in this cookbook, we find only loose indications, not prescriptive rules on how to prepare this medieval dish. As Anonimo Toscano recalls in the text, we have to follow our taste and the taste of the people for whom we are cooking.
We have used white pepper, whose flavor blends particularly well with the other ingredients, but in the medieval sources we also find black and long pepper, so we recommend following your taste and using the variety you have at your disposal.
Anonimo Toscano does not specify the kind of meat to use. Chicken, hen, mutton, beef, or pork are all suitable for making an excellent dish, especially if you choose a fatty cut. This dish may be prepared with or without meat depending on whether it is a lean or a fat day.
The Libro de la Cocina, also known as Anonimo Toscano, a complete and fascinating cookbook written in the Tuscan vernacular in the 14th century, collects 175 recipes for all kinds of medieval dishes, from meat, fish, and vegetables to pies and pasta. The author recommends several variations for lean or fat plates, making this source a satisfying and exhaustive handbook to recreate historical plates and experiment with medieval preparations according to our taste, using ingredients that are mostly common and easy to find. Our translation of Anonimo Toscano’s Libro de la Cocina is accompanied by an introduction about medieval cooking, the basic methods and ingredients, as well as notes to the text and a glossary.
To know more about medieval food, we recommend Registrum Coquine. A medieval cookbook and De Observatione Ciborum. Early-medieval recipes at the court of the Frank. You find further articles and translations of historical sources, among which the first nine books of De Re Coquinaria, Appendicula de Condituris Variis, and De Flore Dietarum, on our Patreon page.
For more historical recipes with vegetables, check out Early Italian Recipes. Vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers, which collects many recipes from the Antiquity to the early Modern Era. If you are interested in ancient food, we recommend reading Ancient Roman Cooking. Ingredients, Recipes, Sources.
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Ingredients
hen
Florence fennel
spices (saffron, white pepper, cinnamon)
eggs
salt
Method
Cut the hen into pieces and simmer it with two pinches of water for about an hour and a half, then add the Florence fennel cut into four pieces and cook for another 20 minutes. Grind the spices in the mortar and add them to the fennel and hen. After a couple of minutes, remove it from the fire. In the meantime, poach the eggs. Lay them gently one by one in hot water just below the boiling point and cook them for a couple of minutes. The yolk must remain runny. Serve the soup with the poached eggs.
Original text
Anche tollendo finochio intero, bullito, cotto con cennamo, pepe e çaffarano, e mettivi ove perdute e carne di polli, o altra carne, per lo dì che tu vuoli.
Translation
Take whole Florence fennel, simmered with cinnamon, pepper, and saffron, adding poached eggs and chicken or other meat depending on the day.
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Libro de la Cocina by Anonimo Toscano. Medieval Tuscan Recipes
Early Italian Recipes. Vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers
De Observatione Ciborum by Anthimus. Early-medieval recipes at the court of the Franks.
Registrum Coquine by Johannes Bockenheim. A medieval cookbook
Ancient Roman Cooking. Ingredients, Sources, Recipes
Translations of Historical Sources
De Re Coquinaria by Apicius (Ancient Rome)
Apicii Excerpta by Vinidarius (5th or 6th century)
De Observatione Ciborum by Anthimus (6th century)
Appendicula de Condituris Variis by Johannes Damascenus (8th or 9th century)
De Flore Dietarum (11th century)
Tractatus de Modo Preparandi et Condiendi Omnia Cibaria (13th or 14th century)
Liber de Coquina – first part (14th century)
Enseignemenz (14th century)
Opusculum de Saporibus by Mainus de Maineris (14th century)
Libro de la Cocina by Anonimo Toscano (14th century)
Anonimo Veneziano (14th century)
Registrum Coquine by Johannes von Bockenheim (15th century)
Libro de Arte Coquinaria by Maestro Martino – first and second part (15th century)
Recipes
Tuscan Fish Cakes – Salciccie di Pescio
Tuscan Stew with Pork Belly and Rutabaga
Pork and Onion Soup
Tuscan Radish Soup
The Diet of the Franks – Endive and Pork Jowl
Tuscan Fried Meatballs
The Diet of the Franks – Chicken Stew
Castagnazzi
Renaissance Stuffed Cucumbers
Pork Roast with Cherry Sauce
Renaissance Fried Tomatoes
Herbolata
The Diet of the Franks – Beef Stew
Fried Chicken Soup
Beef Roast with Garlic Sauce
Bread Soup
Salted Meat and Peas
Baghdadi Rice Cream
Chicken with White-Pepper Sauce – Piperatum Album
Indian Chickpeas and Meat
The Diet of the Franks – Pork Stew
Chestnut and Mushrooms
Lentils with Oregano and Watermint
Egyptian Bread with Pistachios and Almonds
Veal with Fennel-Flower Sauce
Pork Roast with Green Sauce
Eggs Poached in Wine
Brodium Theutonicum
Crispellae – Pancakes with Saffron and Honey
Brodium Sarracenium – Chicken Stew
Fava Beans and Pork
Erbe Minute – Meatballs with Herbs
Lettuce and Pork Soup
Zanzarelli – Egg and Cheese Soup
Turnip and Beef Soup for Servants
Cheese Pasta – Vivanda Bona
Gratonata – Chicken Stew
Chickpea Soup with Poached Eggs
Apple Fritters
Hippocras and Claretum – Mulled Wine
Pastero – Pork Pie
10th-century Goat Roast – A Langobard at the Court of the Byzantine Emperor
Romania – A Recipe Between Arabic and Italian Tradition – Medieval Chicken with Pomegranates
Emperor’s Fritters
Medieval Pizza – The Origin of Pizza
Roast Chicken with Salsa Camellina
Sweet Rice
Afrutum or Spumeum – 6th-century Byzantine recipe
A Medieval Breakfast – Wine, Carbonata, and Millet Bread
Salviata – Eggs and Sage
Tria di Vermicelli
Cabbage Soup
Frittelle Ubaldine – Pancakes with Flowers and Herbs
Saffron Cheesecake
Drunken Pork – Early Medieval Pork Stew
Medieval Monk’s Stuffed-Egg Soup
Apple Pie
Onion Soup
Gnocchi
Lentils and Mustard Greens
Chicken soup – Brodo Granato
Turnip Soup
Beans and Bacon – Black-Eyed Peas
Prawn Pie – Pastello de Gambari
Foxtail Millet Polenta and Spit-Roasted Goose
Beef Stew
Blancmange
Leek Soup
Quail Stew with Coconut
Chicken Pie
Ravioli
Almond Cream
Red Mullet Soup
Spit Roast Beef with Arugula Seeds
Walnut Bread
Lasagna
Tripe
Fried Fish
Roast Lamb with Green Sauce
Clams
Sweet and Sour Sardines
Trouts with Green Sauce
Lamb Stew
Quails with Sumac
Chicken with Fennel Flowers
Sea Bream
Historical Italian Cooking 