Anise, Aniseed
Pimpinella anisum
Anise, or aniseed, is one of those spices seldom receiving the attention it deserves. Known primarily for its seeds, which are really fruits, anise provides a spicy, sweet licorice flavor to breads, cakes, biscotti, and beverages. The seeds are so readily available that most of us don’t give much thought to their source, which happens to be a lovely garden plant.
Anise grows to about eighteen inches in height, with finely divided leaves and umbels of tiny, creamy white flowers. It needs well-drained, slightly sandy soil, full sun, and 120 frost-free days to set fruit, from which you will be able to gather one to two tablespoons of seeds per plant.1 Anise is an annual plant that you can easily grow from seed sown after the soil has warmed. Regular watering is required if your garden is in a period of drought. If the plant gets spindly, tie the main stem to a small stake in order to keep it upright. It is easy to confuse members of the Apiaceae family, which includes poison hemlock, so be absolutely certain that you are harvesting the correct plant before consuming any part of it. While waiting for the seeds to develop, harvest a few leaves to sprinkle on salads or use them as a garnish on soups or meat (especially pork and lamb) stews.
Anise has a long history of culinary use, having appeared on the tables of ancient Greeks and Egyptians. In A Modern Herbal (1931), Maud Grieve suggests that the little spiced cakes called mustacae (which included anise) served at the end of Roman feasts to aid digestion may have been the origin of the spiced wedding cakes that we serve today. Dioscorides included anise in his books, recognizing it as an effective remedy for coughs and bronchial infections, asthma, and as a carminative. Anise has been used to flavor dental preparations and has even been claimed as an aphrodisiac. It is probably best-known today for its use in flavoring liqueurs such as ouzo and Pernod, as well as candies known as licorice. One of the most unusual claims about anise is that a bit of its distilled oil wiped onto a fishing lure will increase the chances of a successful freshwater catch.
From: The Essential Guide to Growing and Cooking with Herbs, Schlosser, Katherine. LSU Press, 2007.