Growing up in the north of Sweden we ate a lot of food that we either had grown ourselves, or meat we gotten from someone who had been hunting. Back then I did not appreciate it and thought that my moms “moose stew” was boring and I rather would eat a greasy pizza instead. These days, whenever I make it to Sweden I always ask for moose, reindeer, cloudberries and all the other delicacy I can’t find in Chicago and I tell you, I’ve been looking. So this evening I decided to make a Bolognese that would remind me of those delicious flavors by using thyme, juniper berry and “viltfond” which is like a gamy flavored bouillon that I got my hands on. Juniper berries are actually good for your digestive system, now I don’t think it will make a difference in this case as I only used a few for the flavor.
700 grams minced beef
1 chopped onion
3 chopped garlic cloves
100 grams chopped forest nameko mushrooms
226 gram chopped Applegate hickory smoked bacon
170 grams tomato paste
4 deciliter of water
1 tablespoon Soy sauce gluten-free
1 tablespoon “Viltfond” (unless you have connections use the “better than bouillon beef”)
2 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons basil
1 tablespoon thyme
4-6 juniper berries crushed
Salt and pepper
Let the beef and the onions fry together till the meat is done, add the mushroom and fry fora few more minutes. Add some water and the tomato paste, be careful so it doesn’t get to watery and mix in the herbs and the spices. Fry the bacon so it gets crispy and rinse off the excess fat and dry with a paper towel and put it in the Bolognese.
Instead of eating the traditional pasta I shredded cabbage that I sprinkled with Apple Cider Vinegar, salt and pepper another option is to steam cook the shredded cabbage if you would prefer. The rest of the family had the pasta as well as the cabbage.
Just a journal 
I have to admit I never heard about Juniper berries before, but as I love all berries this would surely not be an exception! True, you don’t always appreciate things that you are used to having right in front of you, only when its gone 🙂
I think this is a berry that is common in European cuisines but it grows in the northern hemisphere so I would think you can find dried Juniper berries in spice shops where they carry all kind of exotic spices.
Thanks, I’ll have a look!
looks good, cabbage for the pasta what a novel idea! what does moose taste similar to? being in a colder climate your forced to eat that, juniper berries you have to discard the seeds right? arnt they posionous? I have seen plenty of juniper berries on bushes around here.
Every fall in Sweden it is legal to hunt moose, as long as you have a hunting permit.The main reason for this organized “hunting activity” is to control the population of moose, this i.e. to keep traffic accidents down, this will automatically lead that the meat becomes available. The meat has a gamy taste and for me hard to explain except from that it’s just delicious. I crush the dry juniper berries. I’m not sure if there are poisonous juniper berries and could not say if the ones that grows where you live are. I get mine from the spice shop and I would be surprised if they would sell anything that is poisonous but I guess you could always ask to be on the safe side.
Thanks for reading, Malin