Today’s recipe was engineered out of a need to administer the nutritional benefits of fennel to a friend in a creative palatable manner.

However, the addition of aromatic herbs to bread is not new.

Ginger and other aromatics have been employed in traditional breadmaking as aids to digestion for centuries.

Ingredients

. 1 lb flour (A 50/50 mix of whole wheat and any other is good)

. 2 tablespoons fennel seed

. 1 heaped tablespoon of dry yeast

. 1 tablespoon sugar/honey or other sweetner

. 1/2 cup raisins

. 6 ripe bananas

. 1 cup sesame seeds

. Water to mix

Method

. Mash ripe bananas in a bowl

. Add raisins, sweetner, fennel and most of the sesame seeds

. Mix well

. Add flour, dry yeast and mix to a dough, adding water to achieve dumpling-like consistency

. Let dough rest and rise for 2 hours

. Shape into loaf and sprinkle with sesame seeds

. Bake at 350 degrees in preheated oven at 350 degrees

Thomas ‘Bongo Tommy’ Huber is a Swiss national who migrated to Westmoreland’s Retrieve District 10 years ago. He is a naturalist who lives off the land and is deeply involved in an ongoing effort to create Jamaica’s next generation of exotic fruit trees.