Star Anise pod in a recipe?

I'm looking at a recipe for pumpkin pie that includes lots of spices and other strong flavors - ginger, cardamon, cinnamon, dark rum and a bunch of other stuff.

On the list is "two petals from an star anise pod". Just two petals. I'm thinking "really? what can that tiny amount really bring to the show with all those other strong flavors?" Thoughts?

Just guessing, but wonder if they're referring to a star anise (which would explain the "petals")?

bfolds wrote:Just guessing, but wonder if they're referring to a star anise (which would explain the "petals")?

Yeah - clarified my original post.

i find star anise very overwhelming and unpleasant. i think just breaking off 2 petals makes sense, as pumpkin pie doesn't usually have star anise in it at all, so this way you'll get a hint of the flavor but it won't dominate all the other traditional flavors...

Star anise is strong as hell so I can see why they would go light on it, especially since it is ground for the recipe and not just steeped. My wife recently made the Hoosier Mama apple pie recipe that has five spice and the amount of star anise I ground for it was minimal but the flavor was right there.

Yeah, I find star anise to be in the same category of spices like cloves and nutmeg, where even just the slightest bit of it is detectable. Maybe not quite as strong as those, but in the general ballpark.

If you don’t have it, Spice House carries Star Anise.

As does Whole Foods.

As does Pete's Fresh Market in the Mexican spice section. Don't know if it's used much at all in Mexican food, but I see it available in those plastic-bag packaged herbs and spices. (So not the jars of spices, but the bags where you have stuff like Mexican oregano, avocado leaves, chamomile, all your hot peppers, bay leaves, etc. This sort of packaging). I'm pretty sure I've also seen them at Cermak Grocery (under the Badia brand) and perhaps even Shop & Save. Anywhere with a decent Mexican spice section.

Looking through my spice cupboard, I see I have a one-oz back that is Petes Fresh Market branded, labeled "Anis [sic] star blossom/Anis estrella." Packed by Maris Candy Inc. in Chicago on 2266 S. Blue Island, if that's of interest to anyone.

I'll say this, though. I just opened up the Pete's bag and it's definitely not as strong as the star anise I'm used to. And I don't see the typical seeds inside the individual pods that I usually see, and the color of the star anise itself is a darker brown, and the texture is a bit drier. The last batch I bought was from some Indian grocery, IIRC. I wonder if there are different cultivars.

You can leave it out. I like it in some things but no real reason to put it in pumpkin pie. A pinch of Chinese five spice powder can be a substitute.