Anise is both a vegetable and a spice.As a spice, the dried seeds are ground for use. Anise smells somewhat like star anise, fennel and liquorice. Anise is a strong spice, so use it sparingly. A few seeds, perhaps 10 at most, will improve the flavor of pizza sauce.As a vegetable, the stalks are used. A typical use would be stir-fry.The finely divided leaves can also be used to flavor a dish.
Annatto, also onoto, achiote, is a spice made of the red pulp surrounding the seeds of the achiote tree in South America.Annatto is commonly used as a food colouring agent, and has the food additive number E160b. It give cheeses such as Cheddar and Red Leicester their colour, and helps butter and margarine appear the colour that customers expect it to be.The traditional Venezuelan dishes hallaca and perico use annatto in their preparation.
Asafoetida (Ferula asafoetida), is a dark amber resin which comes from the dried sap from the stem and roots of this wild fennel. The most commonly available form is compounded asafoetida, a fine powder containing 30% asafoetida resin, along with flour and gum arabic.It is mainly grown in Iran,Afghanistan,and Kashmir.This spice is used as a digestive aid and in pickles.Its odour is so strong that it must be stored in airtight containers; otherwise, it spoils other foodstuffs. It loses its smell in cooking, however, and presents an onion-like taste. In India, it is used especially by the Brahmin caste of the Hindus and by adherents of Jainism, who are not allowed to eat onions.
Basil is a herb, the green leaves of which are used extensively in Italian cuisine. It is the basis of pesto sauce, and