|
| Anise plant |
|
| Anise (flowering plants) |
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.
