The market · Spices · Northern and Central Europe

Juniper berries

The small blue-black cones of a conifer — piney and resinous, the flavour of gin, and of game and sauerkraut in Northern Europe.

piney · resinous · citrusy

What to do with it

Classics built on it
AlsatianChoucroute garnieSauerkraut braised in white wine with juniper, then heaped with smoked and salted pork, sausages and boiled potatoes.No one here has made it yet

Goes with

venisoncabbageporkbay leaf

Knowing it

Where to buy
Delis and Polish or German shops.
Worth knowing
Crush them lightly with the flat of a knife before they go in.

Kitchens that keep it in

Alsace — north-eastern France, between the Vosges and the RhineAlsatianFrench and German at once: sauerkraut and pork, yeasted cakes and bread, fresh cheese and cream, cooked with the dry white wines of the Vosges foothills.9 classics

More spices

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