Three o’clock in the afternoon and I hunt through the grocery aisles. Chocolate and raisins, chocolate and peanuts, chocolate and marshmallow, chocolate and chocolate – chocolate as far as the eye can see. But there, tucked in a corner, the fluorescent light gleaming off their plastic wrappings, are packages of Twizzlers and Good & Plenty. I rummage through the shelf only to know disappointment – no real” licorice to satisfy my craving.

Licorice is one of those acquired tastes: Like a good understudy, it sings in the chorus and does several walk-ons but will probably never get to center stage.

It didn’t take much for me to acquire it: Sen-Sen is what I dipped deep into the corner of my grandmother’s pocketbook to find. The size and shape of a Chiclet, Sen-Sen was a sinus-clearing dose of black licorice.

When I couldn’t get to my grandmother’s stash, my licorice fix came in the form of black jellybeans and ropy black Twizzlers. Then when I was 16 and an exchange student in Belgium, my life changed. Birgitte, my host, handed me a quarter-size black disk.

Dropge,” she said. I slid it onto my tongue. Wow! Sweet, then salty, then sweet. A buildup of fizzy juices, almost like the head on a beer. Then a strong sense of menthol. Finally, the sweet finish. Never had such a small candy done so much.

Since then I have eaten Good & Plenty, Twizzlers and black jellybeans. But American licorice is too chewy and has too much added sugar. And there’s not much variety. It’s just not part of our national psyche, the way chocolate is. I need a candy with more bite.

In the Netherlands, where licorice is a national obsession and multimillion-dollar industry, there are more than 100 sizes and shapes, with new ones appearing all the time. There’s even a replica of the famous Brussels statue, Mannekin Pis (your basic little-boy-urinating fountain). Everyone has a favorite type, says Caroline Feitel, of the Royal Netherlands embassy’s agricultural counselor’s office. She likes the dogs and cats, which are sweet, light brown and a little foamy.”

The licorice root used by the Dutch comes from the Glycyrrihiza glabra, a bush that grows in Mediterranean countries, Turkey, Russia and China. The roots are cut into pieces, boiled in water and filtered. This liquid is then thickened and formed into blocks. Other ingredients – starch, glucose, gelatin, sugar, honey andor anise-oil andor menthol – are then added to create the various flavors. The salt (not table salt, but ammonium chloride) is probably added to counterbalance the sweetness. Natural licorice root (glycyrrhiza derives from the Greek for sweet root”) is 50 times sweeter than sugar. Its sweetness can still be detected when one part licorice is diluted in 20,000 parts water.

For thousands of years, people have been using licorice root as a natural remedy for everything from coughs to eczema, stomach ulcers and hepatitis. The ancient Greeks used it for asthma, chest problems and canker sores. Roman warriors supposedly drank a form of it to quench their thirst. A supply of licorice was even discovered in King Tut’s tomb. Today’s herbalists swear by licorice-root tea as a cough suppressant, and many medications are laced with licorice, including some birth-control pills. But some of the more extravagant claims for licorice have little medical evidence to support them. In fact, eaten in excess, licorice can cause sodium and water retention, low potassium levels and hypertension.

There are other sources of licorice flavor, such as the fennel bulb and the anise seed, both used in cooking, and many people enjoy the distinctly flavored liqueurs arak, ouzo, Sambuca and Pernod. Nora Pouillon, chefowner of Restaurant Nora and Asia Nora, both in northwest Washington, D.C., is using fennel a lot now. She adds that her kids love to eat fennel raw, instead of eating celery.”

She also uses anise combined with olive oil and lemon in some recipes because it helps you digest by breaking down the oil.” For a nice dessert touch, she mixes Sambuca with whipped cream and spoons it on coffee or espresso.

In French cooking, Pernod is often used in bouillabaisse to add sweetness and to subdue the heavy smell and flavor of the fish. Raki (like arak or ouzo) is used in Turkish dishes for the same reason.

Sweet and useful as it is, licorice will probably never dominate the U.S. candy market. American chocolate lovers, with a passion that rivals the Dutch attachment to licorice, consumed 11.5 pounds of chocolate per capita in 1995 (including chocolate used in ice cream), while the 15 million Dutch ate nearly 5 pounds of licorice per person in 1996. Studiecentrum Snacks and Zoetwaren (Study Center for Snacks and Sweets) reports that last year, the Netherlands exported a mere 11,000 pounds (about $18,000 worth) of licorice to the United States. We call it Heimwee-drop,” says Feitel, homesickness or nostalgia licorice for Dutch people living in the United States.”

SIDE DISH

Fennel and Parmesan Gratin

10 fennel bulbs, trimmed

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

2 garlic cloves

Salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut each fennel bulb into 6 pieces from top to bottom. Place on a steamer rack or basket over 1 inch of boiling water. Cover and steam 6 to 8 minutes or until tender.

In a shallow casserole or gratin dish, combine cream, half the Parmesan, garlic, salt and pepper. Add fennel, and mix gently to coat. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan over the top. Cover the dish with a cover or foil, and bake 20 minutes. Remove cover or foil and bake another 10 minutes or until cheese is nicely browned. Makes 6 servings.

Per serving: 325 calories, 7 grams protein, 25 grams fat, 23 grams carbohydrates, 88 milligrams cholesterol, 294 milligrams sodium, 69 percent calories from fat.

SALAD

Fennel Salad

3 medium fennel bulbs, about 2 pounds

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Zest of 1 lemon (removed in long strips with zester or peeled with vegetable peeler and julienned)

Juice of lemon

1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons water

1/4 cup (14-inch-diced) tomatoes or red bell peppers, optional

Remove the outer leaves, core and fronds of the fennel bulbs. Slice fennel very thickly (about 1/2 inch thick) crosswise, using a mandoline or slicer.

In a nonreactive bowl big enough to accommodate the fennel, whisk together the parsley, chives, lemon zest and juice, salt, pepper and olive oil with 2 tablespoons water. Add the fennel and toss to combine.

Let the mixture marinate 15 minutes or so to allow fennel to soften slightly and absorb the flavors. If desired, garnish with the diced tomatoes or red peppers. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Per serving: 105 calories, 3 grams protein, 4 grams fat, 18 grams carbohydrates, no cholesterol, 255 milligrams sodium, 34 percent calories from fat.

Recipe from Nora Pouillon, chefowner of Restaurant Nora and Asia Nora in Washington, D.C.

DESSERT

Viennese Anise Cookies

1/4 cups sugar

4 whole eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel

2 tablespoons anise seeds

Butter 2 or 3 baking sheets. Beat the sugar and eggs with an electric mixer until the mixture is light and lemony in color. Fold in the flour and lemon peel thoroughly.

Spoon the dough on to the baking sheets in mounds of about 1 to 2 teaspoons each, placing them 1 inch apart. Leave to rest for at least 2 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Sprinkle the dough mounds with the anise seeds. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes (depending on size) or until lightly yellow. Allow cookies to cool for 1 minute before removing them from the baking sheets. Cool on wire racks. Store in airtight container. Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Per cookie: 70 calories, 2 grams protein, 3 grams fat, 12 grams carbohydrates, no cholesterol, 170 milligrams sodium, 34 percent calories from fat.

Recipe from Nora Pouillon, chef/owner of Restaurant Nora and Asia Nora in Washington, D.C.