Braised Hock with Fennel Three Ways

I’ve always liked licorice. A similar flavor is found in aniseed and fennel, and that flavor matches very well with pork. Here I have used it three times to layer the taste, first with fresh fennel, then with the aniseed-flavored pastis, and finally with fennel seeds. If your fennel bulb has fresh, leafy fronds keep them: Chop them and add to the sauce just before serving.

This sauce is also excellent with veal osso buco; replace the pork hock with pieces of veal shank and use veal