UK Crowned with its frothy whip and scattered with coloured comfits, the trifle was a very pretty dish for a party.
The dragee is a direct descendant of the English comfit, which, sadly, is no longer with us.
The picture shows blue-and-white porcelain dishes filled with comfits and sweetmeats.
Their origin is uncertain, but they may have evolved out of the pharmaceutical use of sugar, as they were a miniature version of comfits.
Anise was used to flavor fish and chicken dishes, and its seeds were served as sugar-coated comfits.
A late medieval recipe for comfits is based on anise seeds, and suggests also making comfits with fennel, caraway, coriander, and diced ginger.
