Re: [CH] Unknown spices, herbs and stuff

Brent Thompson (brent@hplbct.hpl.hp.com)
Mon, 22 Feb 1999 18:02:17 -0800

-> Star anise ...  It's the seeds that are edible,

I don't know about eating star anise as such, but in cooking, the entire
seed pod is used, whole or broken.  I've seen it whole (or broken) in
various food preparations, and I'm sure the entire seed pod, seeds, wings
and all, is ground up when powdered star anise is called for.

Of course, star anise (Illicium verum, Magnioliaceae [Magnolia family]) is
completely unrelated to "real" anise (Pimpinella anisum, Umbelliferae)
(which in turn is different from fennel (Foeniculum vulgare, also
Umbelliferae), but that's another issue).
 ---   Brent