Anise Seed

Anise seed are small, ridged gray-brown seeds from the anise plant. They deliver a sweet licorice-like aroma and warm, mildly peppery flavor that blooms when toasted or ground, and they are used in cookies and breads, sausages and spice blends, herbal teas, and to infuse syrups; sold whole or ground.

Native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Southwest Asia, anise spread through Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines and into Europe. It remains common in Italian and Greek baking, Levantine spice mixes, and South Asian pickles, and it also flavors traditional anise liqueurs.