Juniper Berries are from the common juniper plant. They are most known as the dominant flavour in gin. In fact, our word for gin is derived from the French word for juniper. They are widely used throughout Europe. Especially with wild game dishes where their powerful, woodsy, pine-like flavour will not overpower the meat. They are used to flavour sauerkraut in Alsace. Also in pickling mixtures in Scandinavia, and pates in France. Pick the ripe blue-black berries from the plants that have not been treated with chemicals and dry them for home use. The berries take two years to ripen, so both ripe and unripe green berries will appear on the same bush.