Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Spice guide to Aniseed along with all the Aniseed containing recipes presented on this site, with 90 recipes in total.

This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the spice-based recipes added to this site.

These recipes, all contain Aniseed as a major flavouring.

Aniseed (also known as Anise or Anís) are the seed pods (fruit) of Pimpinella anisum a herbacious flowering plant of the family Apiaceae (also known as Umbelliferae). As such it is a member of a huge family that contains carrots, cumin, caraway and fennel. The plant is native to the eastern Mediterranean and southwest Asia and grows to 50cm tall. The leaves at the base of the plant are simple, 2-5 cm long and shallowly lobed, while leaves higher on the stems are feathery pinnate, divided into numerous leaflets.

The flowers are white, 3mm in diameter, produced in dense umbrella-like umbels. The seed-like fruit (generally referred to as aniseed) are dry oblong schizocarps (ie it develops from multiple carpels) that are usually 3–5 mm long. This can be lightly roasted to enhance the flavour and both whole seeds and ground seeds are used as a spice. Middle Eastern, Portuguese, German, Italian and French cuisines use anise in seasoning blends such as curry, hoisin, sausage and pepperoni seasonings. Crushed seeds are also often used in cakes and breads and are used to flavour stews and seafood dishes.

Aniseed is one of the classic 'sweet' spices and its aroma is sweet and very aromatic (somewhat reminiscent of the herb cicely). The major aromatic component of aniseed is trans-anethole, with additional notes provided by estragol, anise aldehyde, anise alcohol, p-methoxy-acetophenone, pinene, limonene and γ-himachalene. In most European languages the plant's name is derived from the Latin anisum which, in turn, is derived from the Greek anison [ἄνισον] or anneson [ἄννησον] by confusion with dill, which in Greek was known as aneton [ἄνητον].

This is a very versatile spice with a rather heady aroma which explains its versatility. Aniseed is also believed to be a substance that enhances lactation. Aniseed is also used in anise-flavored liqueurs (such as raki, arak and ouzo) and is the dominant ingredient used in absinthe.

The aroma of the es­sen­tial oil (up to 3% in the fruits) is domi­nated by trans-anethole (max. 90%). Ad­ditional aroma com­ponents are estragol (iso-anethol, 2%), anise aldehyde (less than 1%), anise alcohol, p-methoxy-aceto­phenone, pinene, limonene, γ-himachalene (2%). An unusual compound is the phenol ester 4-methoxy-2-(1-propene-yl)-phenol-2-methyl-butyrate, which is characteristic for anise (5%).