Juniper berries

Grind these juniper berries with a pestle and mortar to release their woody and musky notes.

Juniper berries have a somewhat sharp yet supple and almost sweet flavour. They will enhance shank of braised lamb with red wine sauce, sauerkraut, game, marinades, stuffing, sausages and grilled meat. Whole juniper berries can easily withstand cooking temperatures and releases captivating spicy scents.

In Scandinave cuisine ot is used to enhance pork dishes.

These bluish purple berries are the ripened fruit of the Juniperus communis. This shrub grows in Southern Europe (Albania, Croatia), North Africa, North America and Asia. They have been used for thousands of years. The Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Tibetans and the North American Indians used them in their rituals, their medicinal cures or simply as seasoning. The Greeks dedicated them to Hermes. The Romans used them to replace pepper (Piper nigrum) as they were cheaper, yet just as round and slightly spicy.