Here, star anise, cardamom, dried chilies, fennel seed, cumin and Sichuan peppercorns provide sweetness, smoke, heat and striking complexity.

WSJ: Danny Bowien's Henan Chicken Stew | Slow Food Fast

At Perilla, where the cuisine tends to skew toward Italian-American and Eastern European influences, I serve a spaghettini with crab gravy studded with crushed red chili flakes, fennel seed and Thai basil.

WSJ: Endless-Summer Baked Blue Crab

In Cork, no less, in the 18th-century English Market, I sampled smoked mussels in vinaigrette, rock lobster from Kinsale, tender soda bread flavored with fennel seed, elderflower cordial, floury Golden Wonder potatoes and Yellowman toffee.

WSJ: The New Green Cuisine

Its flavor combines the licorice zing of fresh fennel seed and anise with citrus and honey notes, but here's where the real magic comes in: Fennel pollen acts not just as a flavoring agent but as a flavor booster, instantly beefing up a dish's umami that deep savoriness and intensity that chefs struggle mightily to develop.

WSJ: Fennel Pollen: Culinary Fairy Dust