Anethole, one of the major flavour components of liquorice, is shared among a range of popular cooking herbs and spices. Milder-tasting fennel goes great with

Anethole, one of the major flavour components of liquorice, is shared among a range of popular cooking herbs and spices. Milder-tasting fennel goes great with loads of cooking, it's quite common to chop up a fennel root to add to slow-cook roasts / braises, or sprinkle fennel seeds over roasts and mix into dry rubs. Anise has a stronger flavour than fennel, which lends itself to stocks, sauces and curries. Less commonly you'll see liquorice root itself used in cooking, I haven't used it myself but I don't see why it wouldn't work - if balanced out and seasoned properly. edit: Of course, just pan frying a slab of black liquorice with salt and butter would get mixed reactions, personally I'd find it overpowering, like eating straight up peppercorns even though they work well in moderation as a seasoning.