Ok, I couldn't find much on availability worldwide (which is what I'm always concerned about when choosing an ingredient for everyone), so I'm just going to plow ahead and name the spice
juniper berries as our next ingredient challenge.
Juniper berries have come up in discussion on the forum a couple of times (since I joined, anyway), usually with a "what do I do with these things" comment, so I thought it might be a good choice. I also just happened to watch an episode of a cooking show recently where juniper berries were part of a game hen dish.
Just a blurb from Wikipedia:
Juniper berries are used in northern European and particularly Scandinavian cuisine to "impart a sharp, clear flavor"
[1]to meat dishes, especially wild birds (including
thrush,
blackbird, and
woodcock) and
game meats (including
boar and
venison).
[8] They also season
pork,
cabbage, and
sauerkraut dishes. Traditional recipes for
choucroute garnie, an
Alsatian dish of sauerkraut and meats, universally include juniper berries.
[9]Besides Norwegian and Swedish dishes, juniper berries are also sometimes used in German, Austrian, Czech, Polish and Hungarian cuisine, often with roasts (such as German
sauerbraten).
Northern Italiancuisine, especially that of the
South Tyrol, also incorporates juniper berries.
Enjoy!