Bobbi asks: I was eating in a Chinese restaurant the other day and I found a few of these star-shaped things in my soup. I tried biting one, but it was like a rock! What is it? That’s star anise, Bobbi! You’re not going to believe this, but I just used it in a delicious Vietnamese Beef Stew recipe I’m going to post tomorrow.

Star anise is the dried, rust-brown star-shaped seedpod of the Chinese magnolia and is about one-inch long. It has a pungent licorice flavor that is bitter… but that isn’t a bad thing! When you add it to slow-cooked or simmered dishes, star anise makes the flavor of the whole dish pop.

When ground, star anise is one of the spices in Chinese five-spice powder. Besides Chinese cuisine, star anise (ground or otherwise) is used in almost all Asian and Southeast Asian cuisines, including Vietnamese soups and Indian curries. You can find star anise in Asian or ethnic supermarkets, or online at specialty spice shops like The Spice House.

Make sure the star anise is not broken, but in whole 8-point star pieces. Keep it in a sealed container in a cool dark place (like all spices!).

Only add WHOLE pieces of star anise to a dish (don’t break it up). That way you can pluck them out before serving (and not have to worry about anyone cracking a tooth!).

One other thing… star anise is used  in traditional Chinese medicine to help cure colic in babies and as a digestive aid. And shikimic acid extracted from the seed is an ingredient in the antiviral drug Tamiflu that’s used to fight avian influenza!

Just as we’re all about to make that deep dive into holiday cooking, the Food and Drug Administration says 12-percent of spices brought into the U.S. are contaminated with insects, rodent hairs and who knows what else.

Please… don’t pass the pepper.

The FDA took a hard look at the safety of spice imports and also found that 7-percent were contaminated with the toxic bacteria salmonella (particularly in pepper, sesame seeds and oregano).

The FDA’s report says Mexico and India had the highest amount of contamination. Most of the problems originated in the processing and storage of the spices… not harvesting. Did you know one-quarter of the spices, food colorings and oils used in the U.S. come from India?

So, what can you do to protect your family?

Cooking will take care of the potential for salmonella poisoning, but won’t help with the bits of insects, hair and other detritus.

The BEST solution is to buy whole certified organic spices (like black pepper, cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.), wash them and grind them at home with an electric grinder. A lot of work, I agree, and not really practical (not to mention expensive).

Another idea is to buy your spices in bulk from reputable spice companies like The Spice House, Frontier Herbs or Mountain Rose Herbs. They tell you exactly where the spices originated so you can make an informed decision as to whether to purchase.

But here’s my question for you: Will the FDA report change how you cook this holiday season?