-=> Quoting Michael Loo to Jim Weller <=-

 JW> Head chef of Quebec City's Fairmont Le Ch teau Frontenac studying
 JW> Cree cooking methods / local herbs and plants Modat collected
 JW> to flavour the fish - such as sweetgrass, juniper and spruce buds.

 ML> Now that could be interesting.

I collect and use juniper berries, Spruce buds not so much even
though there's black spruce in my back yard. There are several
grasses called sweetgrass but the famous one, the sacred smudging
herb, doesn't grow up here. (I wonder which one that chef was
introduced to because James Bay has baxically the same soil
conditions (Canada Shield glaciated rock and muskeg swamp) and
climate that we do here.)

 ML> Bannock on a stick has been done elsewhere, too. One
 ML> wonders whether there was slow but sure interchange of
 ML> information or the clever idea was independently hit
 ML> upon in different places

It's certainly common throughout all the tribes from the Atlantic
coast through to the Rocky Mountains, especially north of corn
country. And meat on a stick has been a thing for at least 35,000
years everywhere, so bread dough on a skewer is not a huge leap.

The fur traders certainly spread new ideas and commodites
around and the Natives were always highly mobile compared to
Europeans. A Native guy could hop in a canoe and go freely where
ever he wanted to, learn a new language, be accepted into a
different tribe, and marry a local girl if he chose to while a
European serf was tied to his master's estate and never travelled
outside his home county unless sent on some silly and possibly
deadly crusade or other foreighn war somewhere.

Flavouring fish with juniper is popular in Scandanavia too,
especially strong flavoured, oily fish like herring and salmon.
This recipe is from Finland ...

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06
 
      Title: Herring with Juniper Berries
 Categories: Scandinavia, Fruit, Herring, Sauces
      Yield: 4 Servings
 
      2    Herrings or
      4    Herring filets (salted)
     15    Juniper berries (dried)
      1    Red onion thinly sliced in
           Rings
           SAUCE
      1 dl White vinegar
      2 dl Water
      1 dl Sugar
      2    Bay leaves
     10    Allspice berries
 
  Soak the herring over night or if using filets for a couple of
  hours. Clean the herrings and fillet them. Cut the fillets in
  about 2 cm pieces.
  
  Put the sauce ingredients into a pot and bring to boil. Cook until
  the sugar melts. Take off from the heat and cool. Put the
  onion rings, herring bits and crushed juniper berries layer by
  layer in a glass jar. Pour over the sauce and store in a fridge at
  least for 24 hours before serving. Enjoy with boiled fresh
  potatoes.

  From: Kaari Jae

MMMMM

Cheers

Jim


... Cheap gin is just basically juniper vodka.

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