Fennel seed
Foeniculum vulgare · Spice
Top 10 pairings
A sweet, warm spice: the dried, ridged seeds of the feathery fennel plant, with the liquorice taste of star anise. It flavours Italian sausage, porchetta, Indian and Chinese spice blends and sugar-coated mukhwas.
Picking a good onedrag
Just milled, loud and oilyFaded, dusty, smells of nothing
Good whole seedEveryday bestUse it in sausage, sugo, panch phoron or five-spice. For tea, steep a pinch, not fennel oil.
Crush a few and smellSweet, but you hunt for it
Whole seed or groundWhole, a few cracked halves
The seeds themselvesGreen going tan, little dust
Shake the jar, pinch a fewFree-running, crushes clean