Fennel

If you're looking for a great herb or spice to season your fish, seafood, or pork, fennel may be just the thing. It is prominent in French and Italian cuisine for those very uses. It is also a component of the Chinese Five Spices.

Fennel has been used for a number of medicinal purposes throughout the centuries, such as an appetite suppressant in Renaissance Europe, and as a remedy for snakebite in India.

Interesting fact: many Puritans would chew fennel seeds during long Church meetings. By the way, in very high doses, fennel causes hallucinations and muscle spasms.