Outside of a brine for making pancetta, I've only used it in a French (Provencal?) beef stew and in making gin (by infusing juniper berries in vodka with some herbs and spices). I've never thought to try it on pasta though. I'm told it goes well with apples and cabbage.

In Bigos, a Polish a cabbage and meat stew, it's a great addition, along with black peppercorns and allspice berries!

I found juniper berries at my local Cost Plus World Market. I believe they were 99 cents for a little ziplock- it would be worth the cost for sure if you were interested in experimenting with the flavor.

Where did you see the juniper berries used in a brine?

I always use juniper berries in my Thanksgiving turkey brine (a modified version of Martha Stewart's recipe for turkey brine). Since I typically only use them once a year, I buy them at the bulk section of my Whole Foods or Central Market. That way, I only pay for the few tablespoonsfuls I need and it typically costs less than a dollar. I've often wondered what else they would be good in!

tablespoonfuls = tablespoons

Sometimes I make up words.

My favorite chicken salad has a horseradish-juniper berry mayonnaise..... It's from an old little gem of a cookbook--The Frog Commissary Cookbook

Juniper berries are a necessity in the brine for corned beef. As far as purchasing them...where I live, junipers are ubiquitous, so just pull a few from a tree while walking around the block.

In Germany they are mostly used in sauerkraut and in game dishes. For me they are exclusively a winter spice, and apart from the sauerkraut I can't think of any vegetarian dish they would work well in, they somehow seem to go very well with meat.

Martha Stewart uses juniper berries in a thanksgiving turkey brine that I adapted down for smaller cuts of meat. It is definitely my favorite chicken brining recipe, and it works really well on pork, too.

I've seen juniper used in curing bacon, and traditional German sauerkraut at Schmidt's Restaurant in San Francisco.

I imagine they'd pair well with other brassicas and other cabbage preparations.

My favorite mulled wine recipe calls for a few juniper berries, actually.

Come to think of it, I vaguely remember a scene in one of the Nero Wolfe novels where the detective is arguing with his cook about how many juniper berries to put in a sauce. I think it was for pheasant, or maybe quail. It's been a while since I read the book.

I make my own pastrami and I use juniper in the brine and then the coating on the outside I make out of coriander seeds, black pepper corns, and juniper berries. It's the best pastrami that I've ever had--above any Jewish deli.

Fellow vegetarian here - I add a few berries to broth, soups or even pasta water!

(I forgot - a MUST add to polenta water too!)

In Estonia these are used for many meat dishes, especially roast lamb.

They're a must-have in my grandma's sauerbraten.