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Anise
(Pimpinella anisum L.) In Western cuisine, anise is mostly restricted to bread and cakes; occasionally, bread fruit products are aromatized with anise. In small dosage, it is sometimes contained in spice mixtures for sausages and stews. Its main application are, however, anise-flavoured liquors, of which there are many in different Mediterranean countries: Raki in Turkey, Ouzo [????] in Greece and Pernod in France. 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. Used plant part Fruits, which are often termed “seeds”, though this is not botanically correct. Plant family Apiaceae (parsley family). Sensoric quality Sweet and very aromatic. Main constituents 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-anethole, 2%), anise aldehyd (less than 1%), anise alcohol, p-methoxy-acetophenone, pinene, limonene, ?-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%). Older books (e.g., Melchior and Kastner) mention that anise, especially of Italian origin, may contain small amounts of highly toxic hemlock fruits. This warning seems now to be obsolete; you'll probably not share Sokrates' fate just after enjoying one anise bisquit. Origin Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey, Syria or West Asia. In Far Eastern cuisines (India, Iran, Indonesia), no distinction is made between anise and fennel . Therefore, the same name is usually given to both of them. On the Philippines, star anise, there a popular spice, is referred to as “anise”, too. |
