Despatches from a mother who started late (and is running to catch up)

Mystery berries tracked down

I have tracked down the mysterious juniper berry. Delia Smith mentions this delicacy in one of her books, but I have never before seen such a thing with my own eyes. I confess, in my darkest hours, I wondered if they were a myth. Then, last Friday, I happened to be buying venison from our local butcher. Cook it with red wine and juniper berries, they advised. "Yes, I know about juniper berries," I wailed. "But where can I find them?" It turns out, as so often with these things, that the berries have been under my nose all these years. A small local shop stores them, hidden at the back on a shelf in a large jar, like one of those you used to find in old-fashioned sweetie shops. No casual shopper would know the juniper berries were there, unless they went in and asked.

Harry Potter moment?

It was a Harry Potter moment when they brought that jar down, magic revealed in the everyday. Inside this jar were no pear drops, sherbert pips or gobstoppers. Just thousands upon thousands of tiny, purple berries gathered from juniper bushes on the Scottish hills. Thirty years ago, I would have been disappointed by this, last week I was jubilant. We had a bad moment when the assistant keyed in £16 on the till. "That's my budget gone," I worried. That was the price for a full kilogram. Even I didn't want that many of them. A small pot set me back just 80 pence. The berries were everything I hoped for - and more. Even after three hours in the oven, cooking with venison and red wine, each one burst on my tongue. Like a taste of gin and tonic.

Posted 16 February 2010 14:12

Food

Comments

Catriona 2 said:

Yum, if I had known I could have given you some from the small pot I have in my cupboard that has lasted many years.

Posted 16 February 2010 20:53

Helen said:

I should have mentioned this at V's party!

Posted 16 February 2010 22:24

Cat said:

I wonder about these things - but I think you can have my share.

Posted 16 February 2010 22:35

Rose said:

Aah you've just joggled my memory back to time when I was doing my walks in the heather moors with my friends(the real botany buffs), we stumbled across lots of wild juniper bushes full of berries but I was too young and unappreciative to know what to do with them except leave them for the grouse! If only I could get my hands on them now!

Probably still need quite a lot of juniper berries to make a decent bottle of gin I recokon!

Posted 17 February 2010 22:45