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Sunday, November 13, 2011

Morton and Bassett Star Anise


Never in my life have I purchased star anise, held them, smelled them, or used them. Fortunately, I finally had a recipe to try that requires star anise. Look at how neat they look. And man, they are aromatic.


Each one looks different! Like snowflakes, but hard, brown, odorous (in a good way), and solid in your hand for more than 0.2 seconds. Much longer than M&M's even, though I doubt these would ever melt in your mouth.


Available in a 0.6 oz jar at Von's for $7.19.

I had to look star anise up in my Larousse Gastronomique:
star anise BADIANE
The fruit of a shurb native to the Far East. It is shaped like an eight-pointed star and contains seeds with a slightly hot aniseed flavour. It was first imported into Europe by the English during the Renaissance, and is used most commenly in infusions and in the preparation of liqueurs (anisette). In Scandinavian countries it is also used in pastry- and biscuit-making. Star anise is a spice commonly used in oriental cuisine. In China it is used as a seasoning for fatty meats (pork and duck) and sometimes as an ingredient of scented tea. In India it is used in all ground spice mixtures and is chewed as a breath freshener.


1 comments:

StevenHWicker said...

Very informative and impressive post you have written, this is quite interesting and i have went through it completely, an upgraded information is shared, keep sharing such valuable information. Star aniseed