Arak substitutes

The Turkish member of the same family, a dry unsweetened grape or raisin spirit flavoured with aniseed.

Best for

braised lamb and chicken, deglazing a pan, marinades for fish, sipping with mezze

The most accurate swap available, because it is unsweetened exactly as arak is, which matters more in savoury cooking than any difference in anise intensity. Both louche milky white with water and both behave identically in a hot pan. If anything raki is very slightly softer and less resinous, and arak is often bottled a little stronger, so a dish made with raki may reduce marginally more slowly. Brand-to-brand variation within each category is larger than the gap between them.

Greek anise spirit, clear and lightly sweetened, easy to find in most liquor stores.

Best for

seafood and shellfish, flambe, syrups and desserts, cocktails

The easiest one to buy and a very good match. The single difference that matters is sugar: most ouzo carries a small amount, so a savoury sauce made with it tastes a shade sweeter and softer, and a dessert syrup may need slightly less sugar than the recipe states. Ouzo brands also vary in anise strength more than they vary from arak, so taste the bottle before deciding how much to use. Everything else, including the milky louche and the way it reduces, is the same.

French anise spirits built on anise plus fennel and other botanicals rather than aniseed alone.

Best for

fish stews and mussels, cream and butter sauces, tomato and fennel dishes, cocktails

Both louche cloudy with water just as arak does, so they behave the same way in the pan. Pernod is drier, more herbal and slightly bitter, with a yellow-green colour that will visibly tint a pale sauce, while pastis is a bit sweeter and closer to arak's register. Either makes the finished dish taste more complex and less purely aniseed, which in a fish stew usually improves it and in a traditional Levantine braise makes it taste subtly French.

Sweet Italian and French anise liqueurs, considerably lower in alcohol and much higher in sugar.

Best for

desserts and syrups, cocktails, coffee, when nothing dry is available

The anise flavour is right and the sweetness is the problem. These are liqueurs rather than spirits, often heavily sugared, so a savoury braise made with a full measure tastes distinctly sweet and slightly sticky. Use half the quantity, cut a proportional amount of sugar elsewhere in the recipe, and expect a glossier reduction because the sugar caramelises. In desserts the swap is straightforward and often better than arak would have been.

Neutral spirit infused for ten minutes with crushed anise seed and strained.

Best for

cooking, marinades and sauces, when no anise spirit is in the house, controlling the anise intensity exactly, budget cooking

Surprisingly effective, because in cooking arak is mostly delivering anise aroma plus alcohol, and this delivers both. Crush the seeds first so the oils are released, steep for ten minutes in the vodka at room temperature, then strain. Star anise is a different plant and tastes deeper and slightly liquorice-medicinal, so use a small piece and taste. The one thing you will not get is arak's grape-distillate roundness, which reads as a slightly thinner, sharper alcohol note in the finished dish.

A strong infusion of crushed aniseed or fennel seed, strained, with no alcohol.

Best for

marinades and braises, syrups, cooking for people avoiding alcohol, children's portions

Gets the aroma, and it is honest to say that is all it gets. Alcohol dissolves flavour compounds that water does not, helps a sauce reduce and adds a warmth on the palate, so a braise made with anise tea tastes correct in aroma but slightly flatter and less integrated. Steep for a full ten minutes and strain well. Because there is no alcohol to cook off, add it later in the cooking than you would add arak, so the aroma is not driven away.