On Food and Cooking

(Barry) #1

a citrus aroma, and the other with an unusual
scent said to resemble a mixture of meat, fish,
and coriander.


Juniper Berries Juniper berries are not
leaves, but their essence is the aroma of pine
needles, so I include them here, along with the
observation that pine and other evergreen
needles are often used as flavorings. The
Chinese steam fish over pine needles, and the
original flavoring for salt-cured salmon
(gravlax) was probably pine needles rather
than dill. Pineyness is also one element in the
aromas of many herbs and spices (see charts,
pp. 392, 393).
There are about 10 species of Juniperus, a
distant relative of the pine, all native to the
northern hemisphere. They make small cone-
like reproductive structures, about a third of
an inch or 10 mm across, but the scales
remain fleshy and coalesce to form a “berry”
that surrounds the seeds. The berries take

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