Fennel My Personal favorite is adding it to salads and slaws Fennel is used to seasoning pork roasts and spicy sausages, especially the Florentine salami finocchiona. It is traditionally considered one of the best herbs for fish dishes. The English use fennel seeds in almost all fish dishes, especially as a court bouillon for poaching fish and seafood. It is used to flavor bread, cakes and confectionery. It is an ingredient of Chinese Five Spices and of some curry powders. Several liquors are flavored with fennel, including fennouillette, akvavit, and gin, and were used in distilling absinthe.