Fennel Seed

Fennel seed is the dried fruit of the fennel plant, Foeniculum vulgare, a flowering member of the carrot family that also yields a bulb vegetable, used as an aromatic, anise-flavored spice that is brown or green when fresh and slowly turns dull grey as it ages, with green fruit considered optimal for cooking. It flavors spice blends such as five-spice powder, appears in Indian cuisine as saunf, eaten roasted or candied, and is a primary flavor component of Italian sausage, while the small flowers of wild fennel, known as fennel pollen, are its most potent and most expensive form; a herbal tea can also be made from the seed. Its flavor comes from volatile oils including trans-anethole and estragole, which give it aromas resembling licorice.