anise
Also: bread seeds, Roman fennel, sweet caraway
Description:
Appearance: The anise is an annual plant. It becomes about 50 cm high. The leaves in the lower area are three-lobed, higher up they are pinnate. At the very top the leaves are narrowly lobed. In July and August the anise flowers in white umbels. The approximately 2mm large fruits arise from the flowers, they are pear-shaped and gray-green to gray-brown.
Recovered plant part: The fruits are used, these consist of 2 partial fruits, egg to pear-shaped, with soft bristle hairs.
Harvest time:
Anise is harvested in August and September.
Offer forms:
whole, dried and ground as a powder.
Ingredients:
Essential oil: mainly anethole and estragole. Flavonoids and fatty oil.
Taste and smell:
Sweetish and strongly aromatic, licorice-like.
Cooking and kitchen use with typical dishes:
Anise is cooked as a whole seed, but is ground but only added at the end.
Vegetables / pickled spices: red cabbage, kale, cucumber, tomatoes, lentils and pumpkin, carrots, fennel.
Salad: beetroot salad or carrot salad.
Sauces and soups: sweet and sour and curry sauces or soups.
Meat: pork goulash or lamb ragout, mainly found in Indian and Far Eastern specialties.
Fish: fish stew, fish cooked in the broth or fish dumplings, with seafood, in a shrimp cocktail.
Egg dishes: pancakes or casseroles
Desserts: pudding, fruit soups, applesauce, jam or stone fruit compote
Pastries: biscuits, gingerbread, anise slices, springerle, pepper nuts, printen and plum cake
Drinks: tea and punch, in alcoholic drinks, e.g. in ouzo, pernod or anisette.
Other: bread
Use within dietetics:
It has an antispasmodic effect, for flatulence, indigestion and stimulates the appetite.
Anise is therefore a valuable spice for problems with the gastrointestinal tract.
In addition, it inhibits the multiplication of bacteria and is useful for coughing.
In addition to being used as a spice in dishes and baked goods, it is highly recommended as a tea.
Chewing the seeds will help you get fresh breath.