I found the samphire growing all over the rocks around my spearing gear when packing up -- hadn't noticed it before, but it is quite common. Little yellow flowers this time of year (like rag wort or St. John's wort -- it is called glass wort sometimes) but with small rubbery leaves.
We had no fennel in the cupboard but my brother grabbed a handful of seeds from a huge plant in the garden. Sure enough, rubbing them revealed the tell-tale aniseed smell. So the fish (which I slashed on the outside) was
smothered with crushed fennel seeds & garlic!
