暖冬cool夏

這裏一年四季溫暖如春,沒有酷暑沒有嚴寒......
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暖冬cool夏 (熱門博主)
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又見茴香花開 (w English)

(2016-07-12 20:55:00) 下一個

山中的茴香草又開花了。細長高大的杆子上撐開著簇擁著一片片的黃花,豔麗明亮,芳香陣陣,引來無數蜜蜂,蝴蝶,花青蟲(最後一張),還有像我們這樣的觀賞者駐足回眸。
 

我是個南方人,以前並不知茴香草,對茴香草並沒有太多的情懷。偶遇它是兩年前的一個秋日。自己的爬山隊因為人員不齊,周六的活動取消了。我風聞別組也在附近爬山,就欣然加入。就那麽唯一的一次,一個河北男子指著斜坡上的快要幹枯的植物說,那是茴香,並順手采下點籽,說明年春天種在自己後院。他說起的茴香餃子好像是世界上最好吃的食物。

 

第二年的夏天,我在我們重複走了無數次的山上又一次遇見它。夏天的南加,幹旱得山荒嶺禿。而就在那片貧脊 的土地上,卻婷婷玉立著它,如須如絲的綠葉,徑直的杆上綻放著黃色的花朵。雖然它跟印象中幹枯的樣子大相徑庭,然而它那獨特的芳香還是喚醒了那留存在我記憶中的香味,讓我記起那就是茴香。


隊友中有不少北方人,在我告訴他們這就是茴香草之後,喜悅之餘,還半信半疑。采了一把回家,用很少量的試了試,鑒定完之後,高興得像李時珍發現了新草藥,知道這個店裏很少有賣的茴香其實就在我們身邊,他們從此可以一解茴香餃子/茴香餅之饞。秋天,我們相約著一起采籽;今年春天,家家戶戶的後院都種上了茴香。

雖然我還是吃不慣茴香,然在我,那是大自然的芳香被我帶回了家中。當我獨自一人在院子時, 看著它的花瓣,聞著它沁人心脾的芳香,想起的是夏日山中的清涼和氣息。

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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閱讀 ()評論 (15)
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暖冬cool夏 回複 悄悄話 謝謝“you8280”和”白水之魚”的喜歡和留言。
回複”you8280”:對不起沒有葉子的照片,因為隻有開花時才想起來拍,那時的葉子已經不多(春天時葉子最綠,最嫩)。家中僅有的茴香葉子也已經被我包了餃子吃了。現在山上你看見的應該都是這樣的花,快結籽了。你留心一下。葉子的樣子,你到網上搜一下,有圖片的。謝謝留言。
白水之魚 回複 悄悄話 蝴蝶和花青蟲拍的很美。
you8280 回複 悄悄話 有沒有茴香葉的照片?也想試試。特別喜歡蝴蝶和青蟲的照片。
暖冬cool夏 回複 悄悄話 回複 '閑閑客' 的評論 : 我也隻試過一次,很少量的,下次試試茴香餃子。茴香裏的茴香油還是有一定的醫藥作用。謝謝你的來訪和留言!
閑閑客 回複 悄悄話 哈,我一看著花兒就知道這是Fennel,但不知道Fennel就是茴香。這麽多人愛茴香,我不!沒吃過茴香,可是無意中買回來的tom's 牙膏,fennel味道的,受不了直接吐了出來。
暖冬cool夏 回複 悄悄話 回複OnceMM:謝謝特意又來告訴我,我會45度試試的。夏天回國有點熱,不過現在你們也隻有寒暑假可以回去。好好享受吧,玩得開心,吃得盡興!
Once-always 回複 悄悄話 回複 '暖冬cool夏' 的評論 : 要先回國幾周回來後再去Bermuda。我不需要瘦身,是朋友們想美美滴,逼我貢獻私房秘訣,那個sit-ups你不需要坐直,起到45度角就可以了。
暖冬cool夏 回複 悄悄話 回複Once-always:還以為mm去百慕大吹風去了,沒想到要先瘦身了才美美地去,不怕被大風吹走了:-)。你不需要的,甜點放開吃。謝謝oncemm的喜歡。
Once-always 回複 悄悄話 也是第一次知道這種花的名字呢,謝謝科普。一直喜歡涼mm的美圖加文字解說。尤喜歡最後兩張圖。
暖冬cool夏 回複 悄悄話 回複 '波城冬日' 的評論 : 你一個南方人也愛吃茴香餃子,那一定好吃。我那次隨著他們一起采回家的茴香,做了點餅,沒人捧場,就再也沒有試過。下次也試一下包茴香餃子。謝謝波波。
波城冬日 回複 悄悄話 我們這裏的印度店裏有買,我有時買了包餃子很好吃。謝謝好文!
暖冬cool夏 回複 悄悄話 回複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 回複 悄悄話 回複SLC58:不客氣,也謝謝你給了我寫這篇短文的念頭。昨日看到你的博文中說起的茴香,就想起了它。謝謝留言。
7grizzly 回複 悄悄話 Made me hungry for dumplings. I picked some along a trail and made dumplings with it, 6 years ago.
SLC58 回複 悄悄話 謝謝你的留言和介紹,我在南加州山裏住的時候看到過這種漫山遍野的黃花,真不知道這就是我夢寐以求的茴香,孤陋寡聞呀:(。
據另一位網友介紹,矽穀附近也到處都是,我會去采摘一些籽,希望早日吃上我的茴香餡餃子。
再次感謝。
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