SALAD WITH CARROTS, SEA FENNEL AND BEETS
In the Peloponnese, where I come from, you will likely find them on almost every beach away from a residential area. In Syros, they grow on various beaches. Look them up! Pick them up and don’t worry. The more they are topped the more they grow. Usually, they are eaten pickled and accompany other salads, but I will give you a recipe for a salad where the sea fennel is the staple vegetable. You will need carrots, beets boiled or raw ( if you choose to use them ), olive oil, a little petimezi and vinegar (apple cider vinegar is better). Petimezi is concentrated grape juice. You should have twice as much sea fennel as the carrots and beets. You will wash them, keep 1/5 fresh and you will blanch the rest for 2-3 minutes at the most from the boiling time. Strain them and cool them with cold water. Grate the carrots and beets on a coarse grater and mix them with the blanched sea fennel, which you have cut into large pieces. Chop the fresh ones very fine. Mix everything and add as much oil as you need just to “glaze” the vegetables and add as much vinegar as needed to intensify the flavours. The vinegar should not be the dominant flavour. You add a little petimezi to balance the flavours and a little salt because the sea fennel is salty. Now you are ready to enjoy your salad.