Sambuca contains essential oils obtained from star anise, 'Illicium verum', which give the liquor a strong anise flavour.

In some parts of Mexico, avocado leaves are toasted and ground to imbue dishes with an anise flavour.

They are especially good glazed with orange juice and balsamic vinegar and served with braised fennel, which has a delicate anise flavor.

A Thai basil oil added a marvelous anise flavor to duck.

Or some nice Calabrese olives with their anise flavor.

I like the anise flavor of fennel combined with the sweetly grassy, slightly peppery flavor of basil.

The best seafood dish sampled was braised red snapper over a thick slice of fennel, which imparted a faint anise flavor to the flesh.

Taste her super-plump oysters poached in Pernod, which retain all their brininess, heightened rather than masked by the anise flavor.

The vegetables are baked until almost caramelized (the anise flavor of the fennel goes especially well with the crabs).

The result is almost perfect, with the savory char of the beef underscored precisely by the basil's deep anise flavor, which almost approaches chocolate.