In Italy, wild fennel grows literally wild, all over the place, especially in the south of the peninsula. Duringmy travels across America, I also found it abundant as well, wild and cultivated, but the wild fennel grows especially aromatic in California. You can buy wild-fennel seeds to make this recipe, but you can just as well harvest them in the wild by picking the dried flower tops that harbor the fennel seeds in late summer. The anise-licorice flavor brings freshness to any meat when used as a rub.

　　

Ingredients

this makes enough for 2 medium-sized chickens, or sever al pounds of chicken parts or pork chops

　　4 tablespoons wild-fennel seeds, or 3 tablespoons wild-fennel powder

　　Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

　　6 garlic cloves

　　1/2 cup olive oil

　　

Step 1

If using fennel seeds, grind to a powder in a spice grinder.

　　

Step 2

Combine the fennel powder, lemon juice, zest, and garlic in a mini–food processor, and process to a smooth paste. Drizzle in the olive oil with the machine running to make an emulsified paste.

　　

NOTE

Step 3

Rub the meat with the mixture and let marinate for 2 to 3 hours before cooking.

　　Reprinted with permission from Lidia's Italy in America by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali. Copyright © 2011 by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali. Excerpted by permission of Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. Buy the full book from Amazon or Bookshop.