Anise Spices

We are born with a sweet tooth to draw us to our mother’s milk, whilst being able to seek out honeyed fruits was an evolutionary strength for our foraging forebears, for in nature they signal safe, high-energy foods.

But these sweet-seeking taste buds of ours can be tricked. The plant compound anethole reads as thirteen times sweeter than sugar without all the calories - useless for foragers but a boon in today’s confectionery manufacture. Its other lead characteristic is a strong anise flavour.