A hot summer day in early afternoon we were in Heidelberg of all places. Landed at random in a restaurant that served us lovely white wine and fennel orange salad. It was good, but was missing a thing or two, mostly a bit of flavour punch.

Cyrus

Ingredients:

• 1 fennel
• 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil
• 3 juicing oranges 
• Half a pomegranate
• 1 tablespoon of orange-flavoured olive oil
• Freshly ground pepper, sea salt
• A dash of lemon
• 1 shot of Pernod

How to Make It:

• Slice the fennel in strips.
• Blanche the fennel. (Boil it for 3 minutes in water).
• Heat up the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan on medium to high heat. Throw in the fennel and let it roast a bit but no colour change should appear.
• Juice 1 orange and gradually add the orange juice to the fennel, and let it simmer until reduced.
• In the meantime, fillet the remaining oranges.
• Separate pomegranate beads from skin and membrane.
• When the orange juice is reduced to about 1/2 to 1/4, add the Pernod and lemon juice to the mix, season with freshly ground pepper and salt, and continue simmering for another 2 to 3 minutes.
• Let cool down.
• Make dressing by mixing the flavored olive oil and reduced orange juice, season with additional pepper and salt to taste.
• Place the fennel and dressing into an appropriate salad bowl, mix in the orange fillets and sprinkle the pomegranate over it.
• Cover the dish and let it settle and cool in the fridge for a couple of hours.
• Take it  out of the fridge and let it get a bit closer to room temperature (10 minutes or so).
• Enjoy your salad!