45 anise recipes

The name translates to pepper nuts in German, Danish and Dutch, describing their spicy taste as well as the fact that the recipe calls for a small amount of pepper.

It all began in a small village in the Black Forest of Germany, where a group of mischievous elves tried creating a cookie to make people dance joyfully. They stumbled upon anise, a magical spice with a sweet and licorice-like flavor, and decided to use it in their cookie recipe.

A very easy and fairly quick one pot meal that's perfect when you're in a hurry. Chunks of chicken and rice seasoned with star anise and Chinese five spice powder. Yum.

Delicate, spring soup which is my rendition of the traditional Silesian soup called oberiba. Both recipes differ a lot, so this one shouldn't be named as Silesians did.

A star anise beef and rice noodle soup in the style of Vietnamese pho: a long-simmered oxtail and shank broth scented with charred ginger, star anise, and cinnamon, over rice noodles, beef, and fresh herbs.

An Indian inspired recipe is full of flavor, a great side dish with some grilled meat.

Poaching pears in red wine is a classic way to make pears into a dessert. Pears are poached in red wine with star anise, cloves and cinnamon sticks infused, which makes the pears tender, soft and tasty. Serve the warm pear with the syrup sauce and some good quality ice cream.

There is a bit of confusion about these two plants. For some reason,the fennel plant, which resembles celery with fern like tops, has been called sweet anise in produce markets. The true anise is cultivated only for its seeds. So what you see labelled "sweet anise" in your market is probably fennel, but no matter what you call it, this is a highly interesting vegetable. Every part of this aromatic plant has a taste and aroma similar to licorice. The stems are eaten like celery,uncook, or cooked and served as a vegetable (heavenly with apples in waldorf salad) available from September to May.

Lemony anise hyssop tea bread is a fragrant herb-laced loaf with bright citrus zest, toasted walnuts, and a tender, buttery crumb. A garden-to-table baking project for herb growers.

Classic anise pizzelles made with a full ounce of anise extract, butter, and a touch of lemon. Thin, crisp Italian wafer cookies pressed in a pizzelle iron in 30 seconds each.

Pork loin roast studded with garlic and parsley, then slow-roasted with frequent basting in a chicken broth, white wine, and star anise glaze. The anise gives the meat a subtle warm-spice depth that sets it apart from a standard roast.

Classic Italian biscotti studded with toasted walnuts and star anise, double-baked until crisp for perfect dunking in coffee or wine.

Buttery anise-scented cookies with star anise seeds and extract, chilled overnight and baked golden for traditional New Mexican biscochitos.

Italian anise biscotti: twice-baked Italian almond cookies flavored with pharmacy-grade anise oil and toasted whole almonds. Crisp, dunkable, perfect with espresso.

Lard anise cookies cream pure lard with sugar and anise seeds for an Italian classic with melting tenderness and licorice perfume. Shape into letters or slice from a chilled log.

Anise almond biscotti are twice-baked Italian cookies with toasted almonds and warm anise seeds. Crisp, dunkable holiday treats that keep up to 4 weeks. Makes about 2 dozen.