Juniper Berries Aren't Fruit. (but here's what to do with them anyway) 

What's a gymnosperm?

Gymnosperm, the sportiest most muscular of all sperms.

I think the real question in the video is: Why don't Gymnosperm "fruits" count as fruits? Basically it has to do with what type of cell develops into the "fruit". Ovary cells make fruit while leaf cells make fleshy cones. The main distinguishing feature of Gymnosperms is that they don't make ovaries and thus don't make true fruit. For culinary purposes, it doesn't make any real difference. It matters for scientists.

The reason the juniper still fits within the gymnosperm category, like yew berries, despite being closed, is because the juniper berry is formed when the tiny juniper cones close up and become fleshy, rather than open up like the cones of many other gymnosperms. So initially, the seeds are exposed in a cone like other trees, but they later close up and hide the seeds in the proto-berry

Get Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't on to help you understand, he makes everything so easy (and hilarious).

Juniper Berries are used in sourkraut/Sauerkraut here in germany ,1-2 berries per person/portion is enough for a suttle flavor

Probably the easiest way to think about gymnosperms is that they are a group of plants whose evolution diverged from angiosperms a long time ago when they developed flowers. Then, when humans eventually showed up, they noticed that some seeds had flesh and some did not and that this tended to correlate with those plants that flowered, hence the names. However, since some angiosperms can lack flesh and some gymnosperms can have flesh, the meaning of the names can be safely ignored by the layman. As such, saying that what you've been eating is not actually a fruit may be technically true, if you strictly apply a definition that requires a fruit to be formed from the bud of a flower, but for common usage I'm sticking with calling them fruit.

Gymnosperms are close relatives to flowering plants. They cannot make flowers (what fruits come from). They make cones. Most cones don't look fleshy and fruity like these... but some really look like fruits! We know they aren't fruits for many reasons that are hard to see, the most important being that they didn't come from flowers or develop after being fertilized. They just, pop up fully fleshy and formed like that, waiting for pollen to go inside them and MAYBE make a seed.

I like how you try breaking down flavors. It’s so hard to do well. Your perfume-like breakdown of top-notes vs middle effect vs lingering sensations are really valuable.

i used juniper berries in making a citrus chai and it turned out really good. that piny resiny orange flavour is just perfect for such an application.

Juniper, garlic/shallot and rosemary is a pretty standard flavoring with venison. So you are definitely in the right direction with roasted veg.

juniper is also great with mushrooms, creamy sauces, stews, dishes with red wine or cognac, also rose pepper or green pepper

I think I kind of get it. Within the plant kingdom there is a branch of species that produce flowers, the angiosperms, and true fruits are a part of their reproductive process. There is also a separate branch of the plant kingdom, the gymnosperms, which do not produce flowers, and reproduce differently using cones rather than fruit. The confusion comes because some gymnosperms have independently evolved "cones" that are very similar to fruits in structure and appearance. They aren't fruits, but look similar and serve a similar purpose. It's a bit like how birds have evolved wings, and also bats have independently evolved wings, but bats are not birds.

I think a more interesting thing about juniper berries is that Eastern Red Cedar is actually a juniper and they make better tasting juniper berries than what is typically harvested and sold as juniper berries. My husband harvested over a pound of them last year from our cedar trees and our best use of them other than putting them in soup stock as it simmers is a "rub" where we grind them with brown sugar, salt, black pepper and coriander seeds. It's pretty amazing on salmon and pork.

Juniper is one of my favorite scent notes for warm weather fragrances, right up there with citruses. It's brisk, refreshing, and cooling to the nose.

love the unexpected joy watching him squish the little "fruits" he finds that are small and fragile enough to be held between two fingers brings me, the intentions are so pure and hes so invested in what contents it has and what it can tell him, especially if hes sorta unfamiliar/knows only parts are good so he gives it like a very cautionary yet entirely irresistible lick, like he thinks/knows he cant eat it but both he and us MUST know at least a little, feels so universal squeeze tiny squishy thing...on my hand now.....must..must try....just a little.......... _little tiny bit_

For whatever reason, I added some juniper berries to a béchamel I was making, which I used on... wow I can't remember, but it was something where the sauce was a strong flavor component, it wasn't a cheese sauce. The results were surprisingly good, like, people were asking for the secret good. I just added a few berries as soon as I started adding milk, so it had time to steep but not as much time to toast. I need to ask folks what I put it on! I think it was vegetables, might have been roasted asparagus...

I only know juniper berries from a videogame (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim) and I've wandered what they taste like for the last 12 years. Your descriptions are so detailed that I almost feel I tried them.

As a forager and plant nerd I'm really happy you're starting to do more than just fruit!

As you noticed, Latwerge isn't really jam, it's a category of thickened sirups. Most common is Latwerge made from plums, but there's also ones made with elderberries, rosehips or extract from fir shoots for example. Latwerge is used in different ways: as a spread, a sugar alternative or medicinally as a home remedy for all sorts of things. In Europe you can find Latwerge both in grocery stores but also in drugstores. Further, it's something almost only older people know and buy in my experience. The younger generations don't really know what it is and how to use it.

You're also the only guy that can make fruits interesting! My nephews love your channel. Especially the banana episodes

Oh you dont know how much I was waiting for this video, thank you very much Jared!

I harvest Juniperus virginiana (eastern/red juniper) berries and I stew them into sauces for meat generally. I made a really nice wild sumac and juniper bbq sauce.

Seems like juniper berries are an example of convergent evolution

My favourtie way to cook with the dried juniper berries is as a roasted cauliflower soup - you roast some caulifower and potatoes coated in some ground up juniper berries and then blend that with some hot stock

Regarding uses other than meat, I love it in Sauerkraut. The bitter-y resin-y flavour is really only one of a few spices that manage to compete against the astringency of Sauerkraut.

Juniper jam with dried sour cherries is excellent on venison or duck breast. Never had it in a sweet preparation so really curious to see what the community dreams up.

What an episode!!!! Congrats!!!! Keep up the good work, i like you and your videos!😍

Also very important to note that there are toxic species of juniper, like Juniperus sabina. The common juniper is also known for its extraordinarily expansive range, being the most wildely distributed species of tree as far as I know. Enjoyed your video, cheers

I think the term naked seeds refers to where the ovules develop rather than the fact that you can see the seeds when they are ripe on the outside. Its been a few years since I took a biology class but I remember it was something to do with the fact that in angiosperms the seed begins within a ovary? while on gymnosperms it occurs without that.

You have a good presentation style and could talk about anything and make it interesting to watch.

Thank you for describing the tastes in detail. It makes me want to try these fruits myself

That dish looked amazing. Totally should've had the beverage and toast/jam all together off cam after the subtle taste test. Perfect meal.

Fruit are the swollen ovaries of the female flower of angiosperms.the pulp of the fruit surrounds the seeds or ovule. Gymnosperms produce seeds on different structures like cones and the seed isn't surrounded by pulp. The stuff surrounding the juniper seed are actually modified leaves that are swollen.

You made me laugh out loud....twice! Thanks! I needed that! 😂

Juniper berries will always remind me of the book Hatchet. "No more puke berries". 😂

Juniper is used a ton in Scandinavia as a spice dried, its super good in stews! Cream sauces as well really lovely with juniper berries.

In the Netherlands they are most commonly used in stews (boar works best) and infusion teas, besides to drinks like jenever and gin of course. In a stew you only need a few of these, so people have a small jar of dried juniper berries for longevity.

It’s good to know all these junipers around here in Central Texas are good for something

Gymnosperms fruiting body equivalent is the cone; think like the cones on a pine tree. The juniper berry is also a cone, where the scales are tiny and tightly held together such that it froms a berry-skin-like structure.

I find that a useful vegetarian application is to slow cook a pot of pinto beans with fresh sage leaves and a small amount of juniper berries. A nice southwest flavor profile 😊

Juniper is also used to flavor Swedish snus, and it works well with that flavor palette.

My grandpa lives in Bend Oregon, going to visit him always had a unique smell in the air, and I have heard this is the juniper that grows there naturally. I know there is a Juniper park in Bend, there was a joke when I was a kid I asked to go to Jupiter Park because I had misheard it. I brined my own ham once, (I know you are a vegetarian and wouldn't be interested in that) and the brine included dried juniper berries and it came out tasting like the most delicious bacon I had ever tasted

Now i get why gin has that pine tree taste

let's not confuse botanical term with culinary, from culinary point anything round and small is berry, from botanical sense this is more related to pinecone, than to anything bearing berry

A very common savory use in germany is to add them while cooking red cabbage, which is a common side dish and very popular around christmas.

Ashe Junipers grow everywhere here in central TX and are a source of food for lots of animals. During prohibition bootleggers made hooch from juniper berries. The flavor is quite nice but the skins have a lot of that resin flavor so when we eat them I usually just suck the pulp out and spit out the skin.

Interesting, thank you. Where I like it: 3 dried Juniper Berries, 2 Cloves, 1/2 or 1 teaspoon of Black Pepper and Fennel seeds, and a dash of water in a Pyrex measuring jug. Uwave for 30 sec and now crush/mix the softened mixture, then add a tin of Plum tomatoes - Uwave for about 1 1/2 Mins, now add Honey to taste and Uwave until Toms are cooked. Delicious hot or cold with fish, bacon, all potatoes and bread types, and sausages - the list goes on.

in germany whole (so they are easy to pick out), dried juniper berries, along with a some cloves and bay leaves, are essential seasonings added to sauerkraut. traditionally a winter dish, you simmer some cured or smoked meat and/or sausages in, and serve with buttery mashed potatos and spicy mustard. absolute comfort food!

8:53 love the blues backdrop

You were on the right track. The reason those gymnosperms don't have a "naked seed" is because of convergent evolution. They are just a branch of evolution from earlier gymnosperms that ALSO took advantage of animal seed dispersal by way of sugary sweet covers. The "common" fruits just branch out from the "angiosperm" ancestor in the big tree of life (phylogeny)

My go-to use of juniper berries is in a brine solution together with rosemary and some gin. Soak some pork chops in the solution overnight, saute them briefly in a skillet or dutch oven for a bit of browning then transfer to a hot oven until the pork is cooked through. The brine solution prevents the pork from drying out too fast and leaves them tender and flavorful. It's the only way I prepare pork chops now.

The most important thing to remember for gymnoaperms is that they are a completely different lineage of plants than angiosperms

The juniper berry syrup may be good added to some peppermint tea with honey and lemon.

actual juniper jam (not syrup) goes well with quite a lot of different cheeses in my experience, especially goat's cheese. i've also had some luck using a dry marinade with quite a lot of juniper on a few different meat alternatives that are good to roast and/or sear. i also personally find it goes well with pink peppercorns in pretty much any way you'd apply those (many great salads with that combo)

Nakladany hermelín from the Czech Republic is my favorite simple juniper recipe. Often talked down because it’s process isn’t seen as food safe I just say it should only be done in the Fall somewhere cold enough you could harvest these yourself with an open window keeping it by the window in this climate. If you see a wheel of vegan brie try turning it into this and you will probably love it if you’re not afraid of some marinated onions and garlic that have been sitting in a sealed jar with nut cheese, juniper berries, and paprika (just some of the classic additions) for at least 2 weeks. There’s always the option of choosing a more refrigerable oil than olive (like sunflower or grapeseed) and putting this in the refrigerator instead. It was a life changing experience for me it’s one of the peaks of excitement I get about Fall coming up now.

Seems like juniper berries are an example of a kind of convergent evolution.

Juniper is sometimes added to warm sauerkraut while it's being cooked, alongside a bay leaf, peppercorns, caraway, cloves, and allspice Another thing where it's great is in dishes that use red wine, I have a really nice lentil and vegetable soup recipe with it

Gymnosperms are generally older from an evolutionary perspective and primarily consist of conifers, cycads, and other non-flowering plants. Their seeds are not encased in fruit flesh; rather, they are often exposed, as seen on the scales of pine cones. These plants tend to be hardier, well-adapted to harsh environmental conditions, and have relatively simple reproductive systems. Angiosperms, on the other hand, are flowering plants that produce seeds enclosed within a fruit. The fruits serve various purposes, including seed dispersal by attracting animals. Angiosperms have a more complex reproductive system, often involving specialized structures like flowers, and are generally more adaptable to diverse environmental conditions.

All I know about gymnosperms is that they have a dominant diploid sporophyte phase and a reduced haploid gametophyte phase which is dependent on the sporophytic phase. What the heck is so confusing about that?

The main diference in gyosperm is that they don't produce a flower, instead they produce a seed in the branches of the plant and wait till it gets polinized, when the seed gets polinized it starts to ripe, producing pulp around the seed in some cases

That root hash looks really good.

Thank you for making a vegetarian dish with the juniper berries! Gave me some ideas for food to cook myself.

Another very interesting and educational video. Thanks.

That resiny aspect is what imparts the flavor to gin (and to meat, when you cook with it). Not especially great for raw eating (and you're right, I would NOT down a handful of those, it would make you sick), but REALLY good at imparting that flavor to other things. It's used in German cooking quite a bit.

There's a great juniper-based soda that you'll rarely find here in Sweden, it's called enebärsdricka and it tastes a bit like julmust, a very common soda that's available during Christmas (and easter under a different name) there's also an alcoholic version that I've never had that's brewed for weddings on Gotland, our largest island.

I brewed a gruit with the same kind of juniper you have here. It gave it an almost overpowering lemon and/ or pine flavor. I used 50mL of the dried berry. Definitely going to knock that down a bit on my next batch.

A gymnosperm is a plant which has bypassed the flowering process via the Creutzfeldt-Rosenstein process, by which the developing flowerbuds convert to the "berries" which are indeed, naked seeds. There, I made something up

also very traditional in german Sauerkraut, not during fermentation, but at cooking recipes to serve

Gymnosperm and Angiosperm are both part of the group of flowering plants (Phanerogamia).The difference is in the anatomy of the seed and how it is formed, there are three ways... First there are the monocots and the dicots, this has to do with either having one or two lobes that form the first leaves. If you ever planted seeds you'll know that the first leaves look very different from the phenotype. In most garden plants these are two first leaves, but in grasses for example there is only one. These two are often refered to as the angiosperm. Then there is a third way where the embryo is basically not growing out from lobes but rather straight up grows completely formed. If you ever planted pines you'll notice that they come out of the ground as miniature trees. I hope this helps. This is not made up, I do have a degree in horticulture.

Absolute simplest answer I can find: Gymnosperms are a category of plant (not of fruit) that do not develop ovaries. So whatever seed they have develops first and then whatever part enclosed the seed develops afterwards. Fruit usually develop the other way around, with the ovary being a solid object that develops seeds and flesh inside of it.

The explanation is very simple: Thera are extremely exceptions to everything, and while gimnosperms usually have their seeds naked, sometimes a nearby part of the plant grows fleshy se they can get what angiosperms normally have, dispersion by animals.

I'm glad you mentioned not to pick random juniper berries....

great episode! I was hoping for Ketchup (though probably not as a main ingredient)

That juniper berry veggie roast looks so good

Gymnosperms are a much older plant clade. They date to the carboniferous, and likely ancestral to angiosperms, a Cretaceous clade.

Hi. You should run a control samole of your recipes to compare right the diferences in flavor 👍. Great video as allways.

my familiy and many others here in germany actually prefer the juniper-flowers or "Holunder-Blüten" for syrp, makes for a great refreshing lemonade with something lemony.

This is perfect. I got millions of these all around my ranch.

We learn about this in elementary school and I used to be pretty good at it (for someone who doesnt study at all, I'm just autistic) but I could never really understand the difference between those either. The obvious ones yes, but ones that look like berries are complicated.

Burnt Juniper berries i believe is called culinary ash, and is also very good.

I'll have to try this one out sometime. I use rosemary in a lot of my recipes.

Thank you I am now curious to do my own research

Best Recipe I have tasted for Juniper. Take fine sliced and rinsed cabbage, just crushed whole garlic cloves, fresh ground Juniper berry's, coarse ground Black Pepper, Olive Oil, Salt. Method add Garlic cloves/Juniper/ Black Pepper to hot oil fry for a small time add cabbage continue to cook for a few minutes salt to taste. Far better than the sum of it's parts!.

for another great (vegatarian) application of juniper berries, try looking up austrian rahmsuppe. you just need juniper berries, sour cream, laurel leaf, caraway seed, salt and some dark rye bread to put inside.

if I remember correctly gymnosperm's embryo development is without an outer layer called the ovary wall. the two plant groups diverged evolutionary, but you can find structures which are similar such as fruit flesh.

I use the Juniper syrup in hot cocoa sometimes i love it! Like strong black cocoa

I remember picking these on the rocky cliffs back home (southern shore of Newfoundland). They tasted like medicine...pine flavoured. The leaves on the branches look different though. My friend and I would pretend they were medicine and pop the juice in our mouths. The taste isn't something to write home about. Yes, kids are free to explore the hills, cliffs, woods and beaches without parents hovering. Not sure how i survived my childhood honestly lol

Gymnosperms as everyone knows differs from angiosperms in the way the seeds are placed in a structure that doesn't enclosed them once they mature and are ready for dispersal. As we know that the Juniper trees belong to the family Cupressaceae (Cypress family), they have either scale-like or needle like or both types of leaves. Also their cones (equivalent to flowers in angiosperms) are like those of the other members of the Cypress family. Here's a catch; while cypresses and other plants of the Cupressaceae family rely on the dropping dispersal and the scaly cones burst open when matured, Junipers chose to climb an evolutionary step. They produce the cones just similar to cypresses initially but as the pollination occurs and the cones grow in size and the seeds develop, the scales of the cones don't seperate and they get fused with each other giving the cone the look of a fruit. Despite the fused scales, horn-like spikes can be clearly seen on the cones of most of the Juniper species. It also picks up nice attractive colours like purple, dark red, blue or black mimicing other Fruiting plants (angiosperms) to attract animals including humans to feed on them. The insides of the scales also turn into fleshy substance that is very aromatic and is packed with nutritional values. The seeds are as hard as stone and have a very long dormancy. The acid present in the gut of birds and other animals which eat them help soften the outer coat of the seed. This evolutionary step must have been taken by Junipers assuming that as Junipers grow in very arid and harsh conditions, their density is a very low and hence finding just the perfect spot for the seed to start growing is difficult. The animals provide excellent places for these seeds to grow by dropping them off via their poop in the areas where they relax providing them enough moisture and protection during germination.

A gymnosperm is a type of seed-producing plant that doesn't have flowers or fruits to enclose its seeds. Instead, the seeds of gymnosperms are exposed on the surface of specialized structures like cones or scales. Gymnosperms include plants like conifers, cycads, and ginkgoes. They are typically woody plants and are known for their ability to thrive in various environmental conditions.

Okay so my understanding is that the "fruit" of ginkgo/juniper/etc is like the scales of a cone, but they have grown up and fused around the seed as it grew. Rather than being one structure that developed a seed with a fleshy pericarp. The "fruit" here is an accessory structure, kinda like cashews with their fleshy apples. The "naked" part is more about the seed before it's fertilized than about the ripened state.

Angiosperm seeds develop in the female part of the plant known as the ovary. But angiosperm flowers also have male anatomy that makes pollen. Gymnosperm seeds form in a similar but differently named anatomy but it's specialized to be unisex. Hence pollen cones and seed cones being completely different.

Juniper berries are used in curing Schwarzwaelder Schinken (real German Black Forest Ham which is far different from what is sold in America under that name and more closely resembles prosciutto). Juniper wood is often used in the curing process as well. I've managed to get some via mail order from Wisconsin in the past, so Americans can experience it if they want. The juniper definitely comes through IMHO.

A gymnosperm is a plant that works out a lot. Thujone is also found in Artemisia absinthium, which is used to make absinthe. People used to think it was a hallucinogen, but it's not (nor does it have the same effect as THC). It is toxic in large enough doses, though.

A "juniper berry" is actually a very tiny and moist pine cone.. It not just like a pine cone, it literally is one that is just juicy. If you were to carefully dissect them, you'd be able to compare them to a dissected pine cone and find matching but just functionally different anatomy.

Angiosperms have flowers with ovaries, which produce seeds and are covered by flesh (fruit). Gymnosperms have cones that produce their seeds. Cones are usually made of scales of woody material but in the case of junipers, the cone scales are fleshy. These scales are sweet and succulent and do not open after the seed is produced. You will see pine cones that are “closed” (seeds inside) during part of their lifecycle. Juniper berries are sweet, closed cones.

Juniper works well in Alcohol (sugar wash - vodka/moonshine), a stack of berries in 40-50% left for a week a good measure and then add Tonic Water - wonderful stuff! perhaps cucumber or some lemon?

If you make juniper jam you can add pectin or apples for pectin to make it more solid.

The jam you had sounds very much like what is made in the Baltics also from green pinecones or from dandelion flowers, both called pinecone or dandelion honey respectively. The pinecone one is used as medicine, generally for cough. It does not contain actual honey, but instead is either product boiled quite a bit with water and sugar, until it makes a thick, viscous liquid.

Aw I hope Gary is still around, years later! 🫐✨