Fennel

White wine and briny shellfish juices marry in the pot, then are puréed with parsley to create a light sauce so flavorful, it needs only a touch of butter.

Barigoule is typically a stew of artichokes. This version blends vegetables in a bit of vanilla-scented sauce.

When gooseberries are in season, Redzepi juices them to flavor this dish. Verjus (a tart bottled juice made from unripe grapes) or a combination of white grape juice and cider vinegar make great substitutes.

It’s time to reinvent the crudité platter, and I nominate these attractive little bundles of vegetables; they’re great with cocktails for entertaining as an alternative to a boring deli plate, but they are also a nice alternative to a salad with a pasta dinner. My friends request this often.

This aromatic stew can be made with other types of fish, including haddock or regular cod, but sablefish delivers higher amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. A whole-wheat baguette is good for sopping up the broth.

After the chicken is browned and the vegetables are sautéed, the meat is braised until fork-tender. Orange juice adds vitamin C and brightens the dish, but you can omit it and increase the chicken stock by half a cup.

Mexico is blessed with one of the largest coastlines in the world, touching two oceans and two seas. Consequently, it has a very rich and diverse seafood culture. One of the centers for great seafood eating, including crab, is the Atlantic port Veracruz. Seafood vendors populate the market, their counters painted in the hottest tropical colors and the marinated catch of the day displayed in huge sundae glasses. Order mariscos of just one type or mix and match—the vendors compete with one another to make bigger cocktails in their own special way. When shopping for fennel, look for ones with tops intact; they add extra freshness to a recipe and a more complete fennel taste. If you cannot find fennel with tops, garnish with one teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon. For extra splash at a more formal party, slices of black truffles (if you want to splurge) or a few drops of truffle oil add elegance.

This recipe produces a puree that is smooth and creamy without adding any heavy cream. Instead, the vegetables are boiled in milk and then pureed with some of the reserved cooking liquid, resulting in a side dish with a pure vegetable taste. When pureeing in a blender, add only enough liquid to keep the blade spinning freely. The fennel puree is delicious with the seared scallops on page 260. It can also be thinned with some of the strained cooking liquid to form a soup.

Curry paste, the flavor base for many Indian stews, often begins with a puree of onion, garlic, and ginger, which is sautéed with spice blends (masalas) until golden brown and caramelized. There are countless varieties of curry pastes in Indian cooking, and the one in this recipe is among the most basic and traditional. The spice blends used in Indian curries are first either toasted in a dry pan or sautéed in oil; in both methods, the heat stimulates the oils in the spices—you’ll know they are ready when they are fragrant (keep a very close eye on them, to prevent burning). Once you’ve mastered the technique, you can make a variety of curries using fish, shrimp, beef, lamb, goat, or one or more vegetables, such as cauliflower or peas and potatoes.

This type of quick braising is similar to shallow poaching (page 210): An aromatic liquid is first simmered to allow the flavors to deepen, then simmered with fish, which takes on some of its character. Also, as with some poaching methods, the braising liquid becomes the sauce. Match the fish and aromatics wisely so as not to overwhelm one or the other. A fish such as salmon is easy to partner; its pronounced taste won’t be flagged by aggressive flavors, such as rosemary or curry powder. Milder-tasting fish, such as grouper, halibut, sea bass, and striped bass, require more subtle companions, like the fennel, tomatoes, and lemon in this recipe. All of these fish are moist and firm-fleshed, ideal for braising.

Because scallops have a high moisture content, the risk in preparing them is that they will release their liquid in the pan and steam instead of sear. They also become tough and rubbery if overcooked. The trick is to heat the pan and oil sufficiently so the scallops brown quickly, without overcooking. Swirling the oil to completely coat the pan is crucial, as the heated oil will provide a slick surface that will prevent the scallops from sticking, but you should give the pan a good, strong jerk as soon as the scallops have been added, just in case. Succulent, sweet scallops have an affinity for anise-flavored fennel, and they look lovely resting on pools of silky fennel puree.

Pellicano offers a meat lover’s pizza, so I felt I had to offer one, too. Our version should be called a “pork lover’s pizza” because all four of the meats we put on it—fennel sausage, salami, guanciale, and bacon—are pork.

We use this sausage on our Fennel Sausage, Panna, and Scallions pizza (page 144), Meat Lover’s pizza (page 136), and to make our most popular pasta, Orecchiette with Fennel Sausage and Swiss Chard (page 180). It’s easy to make and keeps well in the freezer. As our longtime sous chef Erik Black used to say, “Making sausage is like making chicken stock. It takes the same amount of time to make a big batch, so why wouldn’t you? You know you’ll end up using it.”

Ribollita is a classic Tuscan soup traditionally made with leftover minestrone thickened with chunks of stale bread. This version is something quite different, and it’s based entirely on the one they serve at Ristorante Da Delfina, a wonderful ristorante in a tiny village nestled in the hills just outside Florence. It was described to me as a fried soup, so the first time I ate it, I didn’t know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that they’d turned the soup into something wholly unsouplike that I could eat with a knife and fork. The way we make it, after cooking off the liquid, we thicken the soup with bread, we chill it, and then shape it into patties that we pan-fry in olive oil. We serve it as an antipasto but it could be a side dish or, served with a green salad, a light meal. I often recommend it to vegetarians, and to make it vegan, just omit the Parmigiano rind. One of our inveterate recipe testers, Tracey Harada, tested this recipe about eight times to get the flavors perfect. Cavolo nero, a variety of kale, is one of the defining ingredients of any ribollita. You can find it at specialty food stores and health-food stores, but if you can’t find it, use another variety of kale.

This is a simple, straightforward secondo whose flavor is 100 percent dependent on the quality of the pork you use. We use pork from heritage pigs, such as Berkshire and Red Wattle, which are the most moist and more flavorful than the pork you find at a conventional grocery store. Berkshire, also known as Kurobuta pork, is the variety most available to the consumer. You can get such pork at some butchers, at high-end grocery stores, and also by mail order from online sources. I guarantee you will find the difference in flavor worth the effort it takes to get it.

We use this seasoning mix for the Pan-roasted Pork Chops with Olives and Sambuca-braised Fennel (page 241) and the Pork Ribs with Fennel and Apple Cider Vinegar (facing page). It will keep for months, so if you like pork with fennel, make double (or more) of this recipe.

Whoever named sweetbreads had an ingenious idea—to give such a nice-sounding name to a part of the animal, the thymus gland, that doesn’t sound all that appetizing. I’ve found that despite the clever name, otherwise open-minded eaters are often squeamish when it comes to eating sweetbreads—a shame, since they can be out of this world. These are seared so they have a crisp exterior and creamy interior. Sweetbreads and artichokes are a pretty typical Italian pairing, and one that I love. While this isn’t a difficult dish to make, it does require several steps, so plan ahead.

Set out a dish of peppery extra-virgin olive oil with a dash of aged balsamic vinegar, Vincotto (sweet Italian vinegar), or verjus for dipping.

Serve with grilled shrimp, fish, or pork.

For best results, use a heavy-bottomed sauté pan.