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Juniper Berries, as the name would imply, do indeed come from Juniper bushes. The small berries can take up to 2 - 3 years to ripen. When ripe, they'll be plump, dark bluish-purple, and have a bit of a dusty hue to them. Green berries are not ripe. You'll see bushes with both ripe and unripe berries on them at the same time. When the berries are dried for storage, they will be more black in colour.
The berries have a bitter, astringent taste with a bit of pine flavour to them. Drying mellows their flavour.
Before you go and pick any, know that there are different varieties of Juniper bushes such as Juniperus virginiana, and J. chinensis, whose taste is not as desirable as those from "Juniperus communis" bushes. Unfortunately, this knowledge is not all that useful, because not every Juniper bush has a sign on it indicating its scientific name.
Oil from the berries is used to make gin.
Cooking Tips
The berries aren't eaten raw: they are dried and then crushed when needed and used as you would a spice. Don't throw them whole into a dish. The flavour is very prominent, so use only 1 per every 4 portions of a dish you are making.
Good with cabbage, pork, beef, game, sauerkraut.
Substitutes
Dash of gin.
Nutrition
Juniper Berries may be harmful to people with kidney problems. The berries may cause miscarriage. Juniper oil should be used with extreme caution; reputedly just 6 drops can be toxic.
Equivalents
1 pound of Juniper berries = 450g = 5 1/3 cups
Storage
Dried Juniper berries will be leathery. If they just get dried and hard, they are too old.
Also called:  Juniperus communis (Scientific Name) Baies de genièvre (French) Wacholderbeeren (German) Bacche di Ginepro, Ginepro (Italian) Bayas de enebro (Spanish)
See Also
Gin
Other entries for Spices
Ajowan Seed, Allspice, Anardana, Anise, Annatto, Asafoetida, Caraway, Cardamom, Chocolate, Cinnamon, Cloves, Cream of Tartar, Cumin, Dried Lily Buds, Garlic Powder, Ginger, Juniper Berries, Kokum, Mustard, Nigella, Nutmeg, Paprika, Peppers, Pepper, Saffron, Salt, Sumac, Turmeric, Zedoary
Related Recipes
Limerick Ham, Limerick Ham
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