Anise seed (not to be confused with star anise or fennel seed!) upgrades dishes and desserts with an herbal, sweet taste that feels fancy yet familiar.
You know it when you taste it, but how much do you really know about sweet, herbal anise seed?
Whether it flavors crunchy biscotti, sweet Italian sausage, or an Ouzo cocktail, anise seed lends a licorice-like taste to a wide range of foods found across an equally wide range of cuisines, including Italian, Greek, Middle Eastern and South Asian. Just a small amount can make your dishes and desserts taste a little fancy—but not too fancy.
Origin: Comes from the seeds of the anise plant, which is a flowering annual native to the eastern Mediterranean and Southwest Asia
What Is Anise Seed?
Anise seeds are the seeds of the anise plant (Latin name Pimpinella anisum), which is a flowering annual that’s native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia. (Fun fact: Anise is in the same plant family as parsley, carrots, and celery!)
The seeds, whole or ground, taste sweet—but that’s the beginning. Just a small amount of the oval-shaped, green-ish brown seeds adds a licorice-like flavor that’s refreshing, fruity, and bitter at the same time.
Anise is mentioned as early as the famous Ebers papyrus, written about 1550 B.C. In antiquity, anise was an ingredient in the panacaea ’theriak‘, which Pliny claimed was effective against all diseases and poisonings. Since anise was considered an appetite-stimulator, it was also called aniketon (= the invincible). In his Materia Medica, the Roman military physician Dioscorides called anise “an especially good medication”.
Anise is an annual, herbaceous plant growing up to 60cm in height. The lower leaves have a roundish, kidney shape, while the stalk leaves are pinnatifid to tripinnatifid and become more and more finely divided the higher up the stalk they grow. The round, grooved stalks branch in the upper part of the plant and form apical, composite umbels with white blossoms. The grey-green, pear-shaped fruits are thickly covered with hair and consist of two halves with light-coloured ridges. The whole plant smells aromatically of aniseed.
It is believed that anise originated in the Mediterranean region and western Asia. Today it is cultivated primarily in southern Europe, the Mediterranean region, the Near East, India, and in the territory of the former Soviet Union. Anise is seldom found growing wild. At harvest-time, the plants are pulled up and after drying, the fruits are threshed and gathered.