Juniper "Berries" for Seasoning, Medicine, or Better Yet, Gin!

"The infusion is standard, an ounce of the dried berries to a pint of boiling water" write the Marchs' before clarifying that "if too much is taken it may irritate the kidneys." At this point, the instructions get a little fuzzy. There is no dosage, and an ounce of berries seem like a lot to me. So, am I supposed to take a couple of drops of the infusion, or drink the whole pint?

"Just test it out a little at a time like anything else, I guess," Gregg concludes. Right. So my first tea experiment contains only seven juniper berries along with the mullein.

There are many species of Juniperis in North America, including Common Juniper, which is a low creeping bush, and Rocky Mountain Juniper, which is a tree. The white-powdered bluish/black berries are actually not berries at all but in fact the cones of the female tree, while the male tree has small brown cones, according to Wild Berries of the West (2001) by Betty B. Derig and Margaret C. Fuller. Cones mature every two years.

Juniper is sometimes confused with members of the Cypressus (cypress) genus, explains Gregory L. Tilford in Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West (1997), but the giveaway is the distinct aroma of gin given off by the blue/black "berries." This is because juniper berries are a principle ingredient in gin. They have a strong taste so I can only stomach one or two raw off the bush--but that's one or two more than Gregg can handle. This is why juniper berries are used as a seasoning rather than as a main dish. Tilford explains that they are "especially good" for seasoning wild game. He also notes that they are sometimes used in Europe as a pepper substitute.

"Wildman" Steve Brill makes a distinction between resinous and nonresinous species of juniper, with the latter far outnumbering the former, in Identifying & Harvesting Edible & Medicinal Plants in Wild (& Not So Wild) Places (1994). Because of the "powerful resin," he cautions that juniper berries should be used sparingly. "Eating more than two fruits of the resinous species is enough to poison a child," he says.

I recently encountered juniper berries for sale in the spice section of Cost Plus World Market--and imported from Bulgaria no less! But I figure, why buy imported when you can pick them in the back yard?

On a recent "adventure hike" Gregg and I took a more-treacherous-than-expected route down a dry couloir at about 12,000 feet, and after a brief freak-out on my part, we picked our way down only to find some bushes with the sweetest and most pungent juniper berries I've found yet. I wonder if their juiciness had to do with the way the sun hits that particular south-facing slope. Or perhaps the trouble we had to go through to forage them affected the taste? In any case, we collected a small bag full to add to the jar of berries I collected around the house earlier this fall.

Lacking any wild game to cook, I decided to try the juniper berries for the first time with corned beef and cabbage. I borrowed the quantity from two recipes (Bill's Juniper-Sauerkraut Casserole and Juniper Chicken and Bisquits) in Derig and Fuller's book. Both recipes call for 10-12 juniper berries to be tied in cheesecloth and cooked with the meal for flavoring. So I threw 12 berries into the pot along with the spice pack that came with the meat. In the end, I have to say that I couldn't taste the difference with the meat, but I did notice it in the cabbage, which had a nice, fruity, junipery taste to it.

For additional recipes featuring juniper berries as seasoning, see Common Edible and Medicinal Plants of Colorado by the Marchs.' There are a couple of recipes for juniper-flavored sauerkraut dishes and one for Hungarian goulash. They also say that the berries are "one of the main spices of a Zuni dish: green chili stew made with lamb, hominy, and hot chili peppers," which I thought sounded interesting. Although the Marchs' book is out of print, local readers can find it at the Fairplay Public Library in Park County, Colorado, which has a surprisingly large collection (5 books at least) of wild edible plant literature for such a tiny, quaint library.

Although most recipes call for tying up the whole berries in cheesecloth to flavor dishes, Lee Allen Peterson's Edible Wild Plants (1977) recommends crushing them to use as a seasoning.

In terms of medicinal uses, Tiford explains that juniper berries have a longstanding reputation among herbalists and Native American healers as a strong diuretic and urinary tract disinfectant. He also notes that recent studies indicate the possibility of their use to treat insulin-dependent diabetes. Derig and Fuller add, "Modern scientific data shows that juniper berries have antiviral and anticancer properties."

Derig and Fuller warn that "some authors say juniper berries are toxic, especially for children or when eaten frequently or in large quantities. However, using a few for flavoring for meats or stews or for gin is acceptable." They caution strongly against using juniper leaves, however, stating that "the extract of juniper leaves, oil of juniper, is TOXIC."

After my recent lament about not being able to forage for wild edible plants during the winter, I am pleased to find out that juniper berries often stay on their branches all winter long--which means winter foraging right in my back yard. You can't imagine how much this pleases me. After all, I was thinking that a little gin might be the perfect thing to help us weather the cold, snowy winter. I found an easy recipe for making gin from vodka on Ehow.com, so I'll try it one of these days and let you know how it turns out. In the meantime, happy juniper picking!

Post updated to include cautionary words from Brill - 6.4.10