The Joys of Juniper

When you think of juniper, do you reflect on the landscaping shrub found in public parks and gardens? Or maybe you’re familiar with juniper’s needle-like greenery as a bonsai enthusiast. But there’s so much more to know about this coniferous member of the cypress family! For starters, juniper yields a spice and an essential oil. A clue to its character is revealed by taxonomy: its name is derived from the Latin junio, meaning “young,” and parere, which means “produce.” Put together, the designation suggests something evergreen, or forever young. Indeed, many indigenous peoples living near stands of juniper attribute the plant with bestowing them with long life and vitality, as well as food and fuel.

juniper berry

The dark purple fruits of the small tree are actually two-year old female seed cones masquerading as a berry with scales. This fact has not deterred epicureans of days long past, nor gastronomes of the present day. In fact, for centuries, juniper berries have been used as a flavoring agent for game meats, sauerkraut and other pickled foods, as well as beer, like the French genevrette, a brew made from equal amounts of juniper berries and hops. The frosty gin and tonic you occasionally enjoy on a summer’s evening is brought to you by – you guessed it – juniper berry, the primary spirit in the spirit. Even the folks at Starbuck’s capitalized on the complex flavor of juniper berry – peppery with slight citrusy and pine-like undertones – when the company introduced their Juniper Latte around Thanksgiving last year. If you’re a foodie, or just appreciate good flavor, you must get to know gemeiner wachholder, aka juniper berry, a bit better.

a plant of antiquity

While there are somewhere between 50 and 70 species of juniper (for some reason, botanists can’t make up their minds), we refer to the Juniperus communis, or common juniper, found throughout temperate North America, Europe, Asia and some parts of Africa. However, as a genus, the group inhabits virtually every part of the world. With such widespread distribution, juniper was well known to the ancients. The Egyptians and Romans used the berries in purification rituals, not only to purge infestations of the spirit but also of the intestines. The Canaanites, who occupied what we know today as portions of Israel, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, used juniper to invoke the favors of Astarte (also known as Ishtar), the goddess of love and fertility. As told in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, the prophet Elijah, who fled into the wilderness to avoid persecution by Queen Jezebel for ordering the death of her priests as a sacrifice to end famine and drought, found protection by sheltering with an angel under a juniper bush. Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus also reputedly found protection behind juniper branches as they journeyed into Egypt to escape King Herod's soldiers.

In medieval Europe, the smoke from burning juniper wood was used to purify temples and other sacred places, as well as to invite ancestors in spirit to join their living loved ones in celebrating the Samhain fire festival that marks the Celtic New Year and the start of winter on October 31st. The smoking wood was also used to ward off bubonic plague of the 14th century, sometimes called the Black Death. To prevent infection of the airborne version of the bacteria, people were advised to chew on juniper berries when in proximity to the sick. Although the berries do contain alpha-pinene, limonene, myrcene and other anti-microbial compounds, it’s unlikely this was sufficient to prevent spread of the disease. However, it is interesting to note that physicians of the period routinely cleansed their instruments in boiling water infused with juniper berries. The 17th century herbalist and physician Culpeper recommended juniper for various difficulties, most notably as “a resister of the pestilence” and that it “provokes the terms, helps the fits of the mother, strengthens the stomach exceedingly, and expels the wind.” He also suggested bathing in water mixed with ash of burnt juniper wood to snuff out leprosy and “falling-sickness.” Given this, we’re confident he would agree that a nice soak in warm water infused with Epsom salts and a handful of dried juniper berries (or a few drops of the essential oil) can do wonders for tired feet.

[ JOYS OF JUNIPER - Borborygmi Blues ] ~ from HerbCo

norweigan mood

Juniper berry is widely used as a spice and condiment in Dutch, German and Scandinavian cuisines, but the wood is also appreciated by cooks in these countries. Utensils made from juniper wood are popular because, unlike ordinary wooden tools, they don’t absorb and transfer flavors and odors. In addition, the wood is naturally antibacterial and only needs to be rinsed or wiped clean in hot water without soap. Danish cooking embraces juniper berries paired with various fruits and herbs in savory meat dishes, sauces, condiments and (what else?) Danish pastries. In keeping with the spirit of hygge (pronounced hue-ugh), the Danish art of creating cozy ambiance that echoes simple living but good taste, juniper delivers.

Juniper is also big in the world of cheesemaking by artisans from around the globe. In northern European countries, it is common to find boxes made of juniper wood to house wheels of cheese as they age. In the Abruzzo region of Italy, molded ricotta made from sheep’s milk is smoked for several hours over juniper wood before aging to produce a smoky-sweet flavor and a fine texture. In the coastal region of Cantabria in northern Spain, a traditional cheese known as Quesuco de Liébana is smoked over smoldering juniper branches for 36 hours before aging for five months. The result is a smooth, buttery smoked cheese with a mild, woody flavor.

highland hijinks

In the North West Highlands of Scotland, juniper was once called iubhair, the Gaelic word for “yew.” Other names, such as aiteil, appear to refer to specific locations, i.e., the coastal town of Attadale in Wester Ross, as it was common practice to name a location after the native trees cleared to provide space to build, and juniper was once quite prolific in these regions. Aside from providing food and shelter for red deer, black grouse and other wildlife, juniper berries were as popular in Scottish cooking as black pepper. The fruit was also the most significant export in the 17th century. Since the tree can live for 100 years it was a sustainable crop, at least until overharvesting and disease depleted stock and prompted action to regenerate the species in recent times. Juniper is so well-loved in the country that it was considered a contender as the national tree, an honor that ultimately went to Scot pine instead.

Like elsewhere in the world, Scottish distillers took pride in producing beers and gin flavored with juniper berries. Some of the most notable today include Crossbill, a dry gin that consists of Scottish juniper berries and rosehips, and Rock Rose, a complex medley of juniper berries, Rhodiola, sea buckthorn, verbena, coriander, cardamom and rowan berries, produced in a traditional copper kettle affectionately named Elizabeth. Similarly, like their Gaelic cousins and Germanic neighbors, the Scots burned juniper to smoke a variety of foods (especially salmon) and, in earlier times, to ward off the plague – as well as revenue collectors. Juniper wood produces a very light smoke, but enough heat to successfully fuel unlawful whiskey stills that operated in secret in the Highland glens without attracting the interest of passersby.

in literature

Juniper is praised in antiquated medical tomes, ancient cookery books and in the journals of naturalists like Henry David Thoreau. The herb also appears in various poems, such as this one that describes a morning scene in which juniper-smoked foods are served, as well as zrazy, a traditional beef roulade popular in Poland in the 14th century:

Elder ladies, up earlier, had coffee before;
For themselves they've prepared now a tasty encore,
A concoction from heated, with cream thickened, beer,
In which curds, densely floating, of cream cheese appear.
For men there's a choice of smoked meats on a platter:
There is tongue, savouries, sausage, and half-geese well fattened,
All first-rate, all by secret house recipe cured,
Long in juniper smoke in the chimney matured,
At the end, as the last course, 'zrazy' were served.
Thuswise was in the Judge's house breakfast observed.
— Book II, The Castle

The Juniper Tree, which numbers 47 in the Brothers Grimm collection, is one of the darkest fairy tales ever written, replete with child abuse, murder and cannibalism. But, wait! The story ends with reincarnation, destruction of the "Evil One" (the proverbial stepmother, of course) and reunification of family. In short, a boy is murdered by his father’s second wife, who tricks her husband into consuming a meal prepared from the child’s remains, whose bones are buried by his sister under a juniper tree, from which emerges a songbird that tweets the entire plot to the village goldsmith, shoemaker and miller, one at a time, and later drops a millstone on the stepmother, killing her, and finally reveals himself as the boy in spirit, and thanks to the spiritual guardian that is the juniper tree, is transformed from bird to human again, and upon so doing, returns home with his father and sister just in time for lunch. The words sung by the bird:

My mother, she killed me,
My father, he ate me,
My sister Marlene,
Gathered all my bones,
Tied them in a silken scarf,
Laid them beneath the juniper tree,
Tweet, tweet, what a beautiful bird am I.
And they all lived happily thereafter