Pastis

[LifeIsGoodish]

I've been given a bottle of Pastis, and, while I love licorice/fennel/aniseed, I'm not a big drinker. Any suggestions how I could use it? Can you cook with it?

Yes you can cook with it, though it's quite an intense taste, so you don't need very much of it, just a splash to give the dish a lift.

I use it when cooking fish, a little spooned over towards the end of cooking when frying trout or sea bass, a little stirred into tomato based fish soup, or added with the stock to vegetable risotto.
A quick summer pudding is a plate of strawberries all sliced in half, scattered with a little icing sugar and drizzled with pastis. Prepare in advance so an aniseed flavoured syrup forms....Delicious!

Pastis makes the ideal summer drink, keep a jug of chilled water in the fridge ready for a summer apero! It's got a long shelf life, so no need to rush it.