Dishes with juniper berries - 15 cooking recipes

Dishes made from juniper berries are prepared in many cuisines around the world. Juniper berries have long been considered a spice for hunters. Skillful housewives successfully used them to soak animal meat. Thanks to this procedure, it acquired a unique taste and delicate pine aroma. Today we often cook at home and use juniper berries as a seasoning not only for meat, but also for ham, sausage and fish. As a seasoning, recipes with juniper berries recommend using not the fruits, but a marinade or sauce prepared from them. Juniper goes well with cumin, marjoram, rosemary, onion and garlic. Juniper is also used to ferment cabbage, and in this case its taste and aroma acquires a richer and more intense hue. A coffee surrogate is commercially produced from dried juniper berries. Also, these spicy berries are used to flavor various drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Juniper berries add a bright and rich aroma to vodka, various cocktails and fruit drinks. Juniper sugar is also prepared from ripe dry juniper fruits. Fresh berries are used to make syrup, marmalade and gingerbread. When using juniper berries in cooking, you must remember that you cannot consume them in large quantities. The norm for their consumption per kilogram of meat is only 5-6 berries. In large quantities, these berries are dangerous to health. It is also important not to confuse juniper berries with the poisonous berries of another plant - Cossack juniper. They are distinguished by their black-blue color and the presence of two seeds inside the fruit.