Shelf Life #1: Liquorice
Divisive, yes, but my heart belongs to this gloriously pungent food that's equally good eaten as sweets as it is in cooking.
I was more or less weaned on liquorice. My mum, convinced it was healthier than other sweets, allowed us the occasional Choo Choo bar: a teeth-shearing, mouth-numbing, tastebud-assaulting treat that left me smiling the smile of a kid who’d been sucking coal. That early exposure must have seeped into my DNA because just one piece still makes me lose my mind: I can’t stop eating it.
It’s that flavour: an inky, earthy, salty depth. Like toothpaste and treacle got hooked up. Don’t let me near a jar of Lakrids. Watch out if you’re a child with a bag of chocolate bullets. A packet of liquorice all-sorts? Demolished on one sitting, i just push through the brain-hurting sweetness.
I have similar love for liquorice-adjacent foods: fennel seeds (meaty sauces), annise seeds (same family as fennel seeds but punchier), tarragon (shares some the compounds found in liquorice, brilliant paired with eggs and fish), Pernod (sauces and general slurping). Liquorice powder is a thing to try if you haven’t already, as it’s brilliant use judiciously in brownies, syrups, marinades and once, experimentally, in a venison stew. That was a good call.
A few recommendations if you’re liquorice-inclined:
Darrell Lea Soft Eating Liquorice - squishy and addictive
My recipe for Liquorice and Chocolate Loaf is in my book The Little Chocolate Cookbook
How to Cook with Liquorice according to chefs
I love licorice, it is a staple in my pantry.
Have you tried Panda brand? It is IMO the best of the best. I also love an ice cream called tiger tail - which I used to eat as a child (I haven’t had it in years) I don’t eat ice cream in general unless they have tiger tail, which is a needle in a haystack finding.
I love love love licorice as well, especially the salty kind! My first exposure to licorice in cooking was via a licorice crème brulée somewhere in Farringdon and it was brilliant!
And like you I also have a soft spot for licorice adjacent flavours like fennel, anise, pastis (brilliant in ice cream), fennel pollen, star anise etc