Anise

In Western cuisine, anise is mostly restricted to bread and cakes; occasionally, fruit products are aromatized with anise. In small dosage, anise seeds are sometimes contained in spice mixtures for sausages and stews. Their main applications are, however, anise-flavoured liquors, of which there are many in different Mediterranean countries: Rakı in Turkey, Ouzo [Ούζο] in Greece and Pernod in France; see also mugwort on absinthe. In many cases, oil of anise is substituted by oil of star anise in these products, at least partially. In the East, anise is less known, fennel and star anise being more easily available and more popular. Anise may substitute fennel in Northern Indian recipes, but it is a less suited substitute for star anise in Chinese foods. Anise appears occasionally in Mexican recipes, but I am not sure whether Mexican cooks would use it when and if their native anise-flavoured herbs (Mexican tarragon and Mexican pepper-leaf) are available. Anyway, anise is an acceptable substitute for both, although tarragon is even better. Several plants exemanate an aroma comparable to that of anise. Within the Apiaceae (parsley family), both fennel and cicely copy anise’s aroma quite perfectly; to a lesser extent, chervil and dill also resemble anise, although their anise fragrance is not that pure as in the former mentioned plants. See cicely for a larger list of anise-scented plants.