暖冬cool夏

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又见茴香花开 (w English)

(2016-07-12 20:55:00) 下一个

山中的茴香草又开花了。细长高大的杆子上撑开着簇拥着一片片的黄花,艳丽明亮,芳香阵阵,引来无数蜜蜂,蝴蝶,花青虫(最后一张),还有像我们这样的观赏者驻足回眸。
 

我是个南方人,以前并不知茴香草,对茴香草并没有太多的情怀。偶遇它是两年前的一个秋日。自己的爬山队因为人员不齐,周六的活动取消了。我风闻别组也在附近爬山,就欣然加入。就那么唯一的一次,一个河北男子指着斜坡上的快要干枯的植物说,那是茴香,并顺手采下点籽,说明年春天种在自己后院。他说起的茴香饺子好像是世界上最好吃的食物。

 

第二年的夏天,我在我们重复走了无数次的山上又一次遇见它。夏天的南加,干旱得山荒岭秃。而就在那片贫脊 的土地上,却婷婷玉立着它,如须如丝的绿叶,径直的杆上绽放着黄色的花朵。虽然它跟印象中干枯的样子大相径庭,然而它那独特的芳香还是唤醒了那留存在我记忆中的香味,让我记起那就是茴香。


队友中有不少北方人,在我告诉他们这就是茴香草之后,喜悦之余,还半信半疑。采了一把回家,用很少量的试了试,鉴定完之后,高兴得像李时珍发现了新草药,知道这个店里很少有卖的茴香其实就在我们身边,他们从此可以一解茴香饺子/茴香饼之馋。秋天,我们相约着一起采籽;今年春天,家家户户的后院都种上了茴香。

虽然我还是吃不惯茴香,然在我,那是大自然的芳香被我带回了家中。当我独自一人在院子时, 看着它的花瓣,闻着它沁人心脾的芳香,想起的是夏日山中的清凉和气息。

Fennel is in full bloom again, on the hills and in the backyard. Its beautiful yellow flowers spread out upright,while its unique aroma attracts dozens of bees to buzz around, and occasionally a few butterflies to sit on the top, enjoying the nectar.

I am from southern China. Fennel is not something that we recognize or eat. Getting to know it quite coincidental. One fall Saturday morning two years ago, I joined another neighboring team for a hike when my own team was cancelled for the activity. The gentleman in the team, who is from Hebei, pointed to a withering stalk when he picked up the seeds, telling me that it is the fennel, and that he would be sowing them next spring. This is the first time I saw it. 

Summer came the following year. The trail that we have repeatedly hiked week after week was now even more boring, when the prolonged drought deprived hills of almost all the living green. Except in the valley, where oak trees survive, the hill top was just barren with only some drought resistant plants wearily standing there. Against such backdrop, anything green would easily catch our eyes. One morning, on the way back, a plant with green needle-shaped leaves, bloomed on the roadside, beautifully and resiently under the sun. Vaguely, it looked familiar, and it is the unique spectacular aroma from the leaves that awakened me. It is fennel. I never knew that its flowers could be so abundant and pretty. 

My teammates were thrilled to learn that, as fennels are not easily available in the supermarket, and they have been absent from their cuisine for so long. Their excitement gave away their craving for the flavor. 

We ended up seeing more of them later on. When the fall finally arrived last year, we hiked to pick the seeds, and planted in our backyard this spring. To me, the fennel is not food ingredient; it is more of a sight to remind me of its place and beauty in the wilderness.

 

 

 

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暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 谢谢“you8280”和”白水之鱼”的喜欢和留言。
回复”you8280”:对不起没有叶子的照片,因为只有开花时才想起来拍,那时的叶子已经不多(春天时叶子最绿,最嫩)。家中仅有的茴香叶子也已经被我包了饺子吃了。现在山上你看见的应该都是这样的花,快结籽了。你留心一下。叶子的样子,你到网上搜一下,有图片的。谢谢留言。
白水之鱼 回复 悄悄话 蝴蝶和花青虫拍的很美。
you8280 回复 悄悄话 有没有茴香叶的照片?也想试试。特别喜欢蝴蝶和青虫的照片。
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '闲闲客' 的评论 : 我也只试过一次,很少量的,下次试试茴香饺子。茴香里的茴香油还是有一定的医药作用。谢谢你的来访和留言!
闲闲客 回复 悄悄话 哈,我一看着花儿就知道这是Fennel,但不知道Fennel就是茴香。这么多人爱茴香,我不!没吃过茴香,可是无意中买回来的tom's 牙膏,fennel味道的,受不了直接吐了出来。
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复OnceMM:谢谢特意又来告诉我,我会45度试试的。夏天回国有点热,不过现在你们也只有寒暑假可以回去。好好享受吧,玩得开心,吃得尽兴!
Once-always 回复 悄悄话 回复 '暖冬cool夏' 的评论 : 要先回国几周回来后再去Bermuda。我不需要瘦身,是朋友们想美美滴,逼我贡献私房秘诀,那个sit-ups你不需要坐直,起到45度角就可以了。
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复Once-always:还以为mm去百慕大吹风去了,没想到要先瘦身了才美美地去,不怕被大风吹走了:-)。你不需要的,甜点放开吃。谢谢oncemm的喜欢。
Once-always 回复 悄悄话 也是第一次知道这种花的名字呢,谢谢科普。一直喜欢凉mm的美图加文字解说。尤喜欢最后两张图。
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '波城冬日' 的评论 : 你一个南方人也爱吃茴香饺子,那一定好吃。我那次随着他们一起采回家的茴香,做了点饼,没人捧场,就再也没有试过。下次也试一下包茴香饺子。谢谢波波。
波城冬日 回复 悄悄话 我们这里的印度店里有买,我有时买了包饺子很好吃。谢谢好文!
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复7grizzly:Thanks for stopping by. Glad you can make dumplings yourself, as I heard just a few days ago that the ground meat used in burger(same with dumplings I guess) is very unhealthy or even nasty. I won't be buying frozen dumplings any more, but will make them myself too. You can pick some seeds in the fall and plant in the pot if you like. I may still have some seeds from last year mixed somewhere, to share with you or anyone who is interested.
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复SLC58:不客气,也谢谢你给了我写这篇短文的念头。昨日看到你的博文中说起的茴香,就想起了它。谢谢留言。
7grizzly 回复 悄悄话 Made me hungry for dumplings. I picked some along a trail and made dumplings with it, 6 years ago.
SLC58 回复 悄悄话 谢谢你的留言和介绍,我在南加州山里住的时候看到过这种漫山遍野的黄花,真不知道这就是我梦寐以求的茴香,孤陋寡闻呀:(。
据另一位网友介绍,硅谷附近也到处都是,我会去采摘一些籽,希望早日吃上我的茴香馅饺子。
再次感谢。
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