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Anise (Pimpinella anisum L.)

Synonyms

pharmaceuticalFructus Anisi
AlbanianAnason, Glikanxo
Arabicحبة الحلوة, ينسون, كمون حلو, أنيسون
حَبَّة الْحُلْوَة, يانْسُون
Habbet hilwa, Habbu al-hulwah, Yansoon, Yansun, Anisun, Kamun halu, Kamoon halou
Aramaicܫܒ݂ܬ, ܫܝܒܐ
Shwet, Shiba
ArmenianԱնիսոն
Anison
Assameseচফ্
Soph
BasqueAnis
BelarusianАніс
Anis
BretonAniz
BulgarianАнасон
Anason
CatalanAnís, Comí
ChinesePa chio, Yan kok
Chinese
(Cantonese)
大茴香 [daaih wùih hēung], 洋茴香 [yèuhng wùih hēung]
Daai wuih heong, Yeung wuih heong
Chinese
(Mandarin)
大茴香 [dà huí xiāng], 洋茴香 [yáng huí xiāng]
Da hui xiang, Huei hsiang, Yang hui xiang
CroatianAnis
CzechAnýz, Anýz vonný
Danish(Grøn) anis
DutchAnijs, Wilde pimpernel, Nieszaad, Groene anijs
EnglishSweet cumin, Aniseed
EsperantoAnizo
EstonianHarilik aniis
Farsiانیسون, بادیان رومی
Anisun, Badiyan romi
FinnishAnisruoho, Anis
FrenchAnis vert, Boucage
FrisianAnys
GaelicAinis
GalicianAnís
Georgianანისული
Anisuli
GermanAnis
GreekΓλυκάνισο, Άνισον
Glikaniso, Glykaniso, Anison
Greek (Old)Ἄνητον, Ἄννησον, Ἄνισον
Aneton, Anneson, Anison
Gujaratiવરિયાળી
Variyali
Hebrewאניס
אָנִיס
Anis
Hindiछोटी सौंफ़, पतली सौंफ़, सौंफ़, सौंफ, विलायती सौंफ़, शोप, सुव्वा
Choti saunf, Patli saunf, Saunf, Saumph, Vilayati saunf, Suvva, Shop
HungarianÁnizs
IcelandicAnís
IndonesianJinten manis
IrishAiníse
ItalianAnice, Anice verde
Japaneseアニス
Anisu
Kannadaಲಕ್ಕೋ ಸೋಂಪು
Lakko sompu
Korean아니스, 에니시드
Anisu, Enisidu
LatinAnesum
LatvianAnīss
LithuanianAnyžius, Anyžinė ožiažolė, Anyžių sėklos
MacedonianАнасон
Anason
Marathiबडीशेप
Badishep, Shauf
Nepaliसोंफ
Sop
MongolianДалиу
Daliu
NorwegianAnis
PolishAnyż, Biedrzeniec anyż
PortugueseAnis, Anis verde, Erva-doce
ProvençalAnis
RomanianAnason
RussianАнис
Anis
SanskritShatapushpa
SerbianАнис, Аниш
Anis, Aniš
SlovakAníz, Bedrovník anízový, Anyž, Bederník anyžový
SlovenianJanež, Vrtni janež
SpanishAnís, Matalahuga
SwedishAnis, Anisfrö
TagalogAnis
TajikАрпабодиён
Arpabodiyon
Tamilஅனீசு, மகம்பூ, நட்சத்திரசீரகம், சோம்பு, சோம்பு
Anisu, Magambu, Natchattirajiragam, Sombu
Teluguసొంపు
Sompu
Thaiเทียนสัตตบุษย์
Thian sattabusa
TurkishAnason, Enisen, Enison, Ezertere, Mesir otu, Nanahan, Raziyanei-rumi
UkrainianАніс
Anis
Urduانیسواں
Anisuan
UzbekArpabodiyon
Арпабодиён
VietnameseCây hồi, Tiểu hồi
Cay hoi, Tieu hoi
Yiddishענעס
Enes

Pimpinella anisum: Indian Candied sugar anise seeds
Sugar-coated anise seeds from India
Pimpinella anisum: Anis fruits
Dried anise fruits (also termed anis seeds)
Used plant part

Fruits, which are often termed seeds, though this is not botanically correct.

Plant family

Apiaceae (parsley family).

Sensory quality

Sweet and very aromatic. See cicely for other spices with a similar fragrance.
For an overview on sweet spices, see licorice.

Pimpinella anisum: Anis flower
Anise flower
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-anethol, 2%), anise aldehyde (less than 1%), anise alcohol, p-methoxy-aceto­phenone, pinene, limonene, γ-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 biscuit.

Origin

Eastern Medi­terranean (Egypt?) or West Asia. Turkey is still an important producer in our days, but still better qualities come from Spain.

In Far Eastern cuisines (India, Iran, Indonesia), no distinction is made between anise and fennel (see below). Therefore, the same name is usually given to both of them. On the Philippines, star anise is a popular spice and referred to as anise for short.

Pimpinella anisum: Anise flowers
Anise flowers
Etymology

The spice got its an­cient names (Latin anisum from Greek anison [ἄνισον] or anneson [ἄννησον]) by con­fusion with with dill, which in Greek was known as aneton [ἄνητον].

Names of anise in virtually all European languages are derived from Latin anisum, with very little variation: The form anis is valid in a large number of languages, including Norwegian, Croatian, Finnish, Russian (written анис) Ukrainian (written аніс) and Hebrew (written אניס). Examples for names in other languages are Icelandic anís, Latvian anīss, Hungarian ánizs Czech anýz, Polish anyż, Estonian aniis, Italian anice, Romanian anason, Arabic al-yansun [اليانسون], Urdu anisuan [انیسواں] and Farsi anisun [انیسون].

Sanskrit shatapushpa [शतपुष्प] literally means a hundred flowers and probably refers to the flower cluster (umbel). The Sanskrit name was also applied to related plants, and some modern languages have borrowed the term from Sanskrit in non-compatible meanings. For example, thian-sattapusa [เทียนสัตตบุษย์] is the name of anise fruits in Thai herbal medicine, but Telugu shatapushpamu [శతపుష్పము] and Sinhala shatapushpa [ශතපුෂ්ප] both mean dill.

Pimpinella anisum: Anise umbel
Anise umbel

The Hindi na­me saunf [सौंफ] pro­per­ly de­notes fennel, which anise is thought to be a foreign variety of and which is often used inter­change­ably with anise. To dis­tin­guish anise clear­ly from fennel, the spe­cial­ized terms patli saunf [पतली सौंफ] thin fennel or vilayati saunf [विलायती सौंफ] foreign fennel may be used.

Some languages name anise as a sweet variant of other, related spices; for example, Indonesian jinten manis and Arabic kamun halu [كمون حلو] both mean sweet cumin, a name which is also sometimes heard in English. Arabic has another, similar name habbu al-hulwa [حبة الحلوة] sweet grains. Portuguese erva doce sweet herb may denote anise, fennel or occasionally other sweet plants like sweetleaf (Stevia rebaudiana).

In regions where anise is less common than star anise, it may be denoted as a smaller or grainy variant of the latter. Examples include Vietnamese hat hoi [hạt hồi] grain-shaped star anise, Farsi badiyan romi [بادیان رومی] Roman star anise (where Rome just stands for the West, or Europe) and Uzbek arpa-bodiyon [арпабодиён] barley-like star anise.

Selected Links

Indian Spices: Anise Seeds (indianetzone.com) A Pinch of Anise (www.apinchof.com) The Epicentre: Anise Medical Spice Exhibit: Anise Transport Information Service: Anisseed Pflanzen des Capitulare de Villis: Anis (biozac.de) chemikalienlexikon.de: Anethol chemikalienlexikon.de: Anisaldehyde


Pimpinella anisum: Anise plant
Anise plant
Pimpinella anisum: Anis (flowering plants)
Anise (flowering plants)

www.botanikus.de

In Western cuisine, anise is mostly re­stricted to bread and cakes; oc­casion­ally, fruit products are aro­ma­tized with anise. In small dosage, anise seeds are some­times con­tained in spice mixtures for sausages and stews. Their main ap­plica­tions are, how­ever, anise-flavoured liquors, of which there are many in different Medi­terranean coun­tries: Rakı in Turkey, Ouzo [Ούζο] in Greece and Pernod in France; see also mugwort on absinthe. 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.

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.



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