I wish I liked fennel but I simply do not. I retry it about once a year hoping my taste buds willl change.

Not sure what’s popular just now but I know that there has been a rocket/arugula backlash! Read/heard lots of anti-rocket comments from chefs, food writers etc. I still love the stuff and eat/grow mountains of it.:)

I discovered fennel about 5 years ago and instantly liked it. I’m surprised it hasn’t been noticed sooner by the masses, but here in the UK it’s also become quite popular in the past year.

And I don’t know about anyone else, but I am all for kale appearing in everything!

I agree with you completely about fad vegetables. Fennel, heirloom tomatoes and kale are all around. Personally, I’ve written quite a few posts involving kale because it did extremely well in my garden. I still have several pounds of it to harvest and it will be fine until frost.

I am still fennel-shy and haven’t noticed it being more prominent than usual but I love kale and agree it is quite trendy – though I am surprised that you say it has been around for yonks – it is only in the last couple of years i have found it in the shops but maybe I haven’t looked for it before.

For me, the rise of kale in my consciousness comes directly from reading blogs from america where it seems more common. I suspect globilisation helps some food trends and of course masterchef drives others.

Have to agree that kale is definitely on the rise in Oz mainstream food media. I should check to see if the only stall at Queen Victoria Markets that sells the stuff has lowered its price to something approaching reasonable;)

Broccolini had a fad-phase about, what, seven years ago? And baby bok choy. Can’t think of any others right now.

Interesting Kathryn – I’ve definitely noticed vegetable fads come and go (especially the epic rise of the butternut squash). I haven’t noticed a fennel phase in the UK (though I have reduced the amount of foodie magazines I buy recently), but in those I have read I think I’ve noticed a few more artichokes around than there used to be

I’ve definitely noticed kale on the up-and-up here in the UK. Samphire, too, though I have yet to try the stuff myself.

Helen – I never thought I would like fennel, as I don’t like aniseed, but I absolutely adore the stuff. Well done you for continuing to try it out though, that’s very persistent.

Kip – I have wondered if Jamie Oliver had contributed to the fennel fad, as he does seem to use it a lot. And I’m totally with you on the kale love.

Kelly – I keep on thinking heirloom tomatoes will get bigger over here, but they still seem to be very marginal. Most people I meet don’t understand the word “heirloom” in this context and haven’t really thought about the varieties of tomato that might be available.

Johanna – I wasn’t talking about availability in Australia of kale, I just meant that it’s not a new vegetable. Varieties of kale, have a long history of use in many countries. It’s definitely a “new” ingredient here in Australia, with shops that do stock it only really selling cavalo nero and not the many other varieties.

Duncan – I’d forgotten about broccolini, but you’re absolutely right. There was a time when it was the vegetable accompaniment wasn’t there. I’ve only really started using kale regularly since I’ve been getting a weekly vegie box as we have it about once a fortnight at the moment.

Sophie – I think the butternut phase was bigger in the UK. Pumpkins (what we call squash) have been a common ingredient for a much longer time. I’d never eaten pumpkin until I came here, only knew it from Charlie Brown cartoons as something you hollowed out and put a candle in at Halloween.

Monica – samphire! How wonderful. That’s one food I wish we’d have. I’ve never eaten the stuff, never even seen it around.

Like Johanna, I’ve become aware of kale via American food blogs, and I can only hope it’s becoming more mainstream here as I can never find it in supermarkets at the moment! I found it once at the farmers market but it’s so expensive I can’t justify it on a regular basis (PhD student… sigh!)

Fennel has always been common in my family, so I haven’t noticed this particularly… but I have noticed that bok choy isn’t as popular as it used to be!

Samphire is scrumptious. Here it´s usually sold at the fishmonger´s, rather than with the other vegetables, since it´s a coastal thing. There is a famous reference in King Lear to samphire being gathered on the slopes of steep cliffs: “Here´s one that gathers samphire, dreadful trade.”

I have also seen calvero nero popping up in two of my local greengrocers. Jerusalem artichokes, broad beans and zucchini flowers have also been a fad phrase.

I am glad that Fennel is fashionable (it is starting slowly in NZ), so I can get it more easily. I love that vegetable!

I recently went to New York and noticed how obsessed they were with kale, broccoli rabe and lots of other bitter greens. I wish I could find them as easily here. I hope kale becomes more popular in Australia so I can get it more often, and cheaply! It’s delicious and very good for you. I wonder why it’ was so long before Australians caught on to it?

The fashionable pumpkin here is the Hokkaido Kürbis, which is a soft one with a stunning colour, but I much prefer the flavour of harder pumpkins like the Queenland Blue (easier to get in Australia!). I’ve recently worked out that the way to get hard pumpkin is to buy a piece off a huge one. You specify the size of the slice in kilos, which requires a certain cultural knowledge in addition to language!

I’ve started seeing a lot more kale on restaurant menus, which is exciting. When kohlrabi gets attention we’ll know that the tides have really changed!

Not about fennel! Just want to say that I really enjoy reading your “what I’m eating” section – particularly in regard to your interview on Stonesoup about getting enough vegetables into the diet every day.

I don’t care for fennel as it has a licorice taste to me and I have always disliked licorice. I did recently use kale for the first time. I love heirloom tomatoes and grew many varieties this summer. I recently went to an Amish seed store and bought 11 different kinds of heirloom seeds.

Pumpkin fad has been huge here in the UK for about 3 years, started with them being comfort food in the winter and recipes everywhere for soups and roasting them and then carried into the spring and summer with Thai curry recipes and roasted in salads.

Purple sprouting broccoli looks like it might get lots of press in the near future.

I’m happy about fads, they tend to make people think about varieties of Vegetable X and that can only be good for encouraging diversity in seeds sown/varieties sold.

I’ve also noticed the fennel trend, and butternut squash is big as a Fall flavor this year. Which I’m thankful for, because I just discovered it this time around, and I’m in love! I also, personally, try to consume as many good pears as I possibly can in the Fall, because they are so delicate and hard to find perfectly ripe and delicious. -Jen, San Diego, CA, USA

I love kale but we cannot get it where I live in Saudi Arabia so when I come home for holidays I eat soooo much of it to make up for it. I guess it is such a fad in my community due to the health benefits, but you are right, it has been around forever. I also make a mean fennel and orange and rocket salad, yum. You have just reminded me of it.

Hmmm other food fads….nut butters, ancient grains, and pumpkin.