Juniper Berry Rubbed Chicken with Blackberry BBQ Sauce
Juniper berries have a bright piney taste. They are the dark blue berry-like cones of the juniper tree, a member of the cypress family. Juniper—sometimes confused with cedar—has been used by Indigenous peoples across North America for ceremonial, medicinal, and culinary purposes since time immemorial. Learn more about how juniper has been used by Indigenous Peoples from the Native Memory Project.
Blackberries are a food source for people across North America. In British Columbia, the only native blackberry plant is the trailing blackberry. Berries can be eaten fresh, dried, pounded with meat to preserve as pemmican, canned or frozen. Uses go beyond the berries—“older red leaves, considered the most flavourful, were picked by some coastal peoples and boiled into a tasty tea. Medicine from leaves and roots treated ailments from dysentery to sores in the mouth. The vines supported and covered various types of food in steaming pits, and berry juice was used as a purple skin stain.” [1] Once the thorns are removed, blackberry canes can also be used as a material for making baskets. [2]
Teetl'it Gwich’in Language Lesson
Juniper | tsiivii ch’ok
Blackberry | dineech’uh
Meet The Chef
Steph Baryluk
Chef Steph Baryluk created the Rooted Dining Commons and Catering menus at SFU. She is Teetl'it Gwich'in and is from Teetl'it Zheh (Fort McPherson), Treaty 11 Territory located in the Northwest Territories and now resides in Tsawwassen, BC with her husband and two kids. After completing her Red Seal as a Cook she knew she wanted to do more with her Indigenous roots. Chef Steph has hosted cooking classes and speaking engagements in her hometown, at the FAO in Rome, SXSW, and across the Lower Mainland. She also launched her own company, MRS B’S JERKY, which is a play on traditional caribou dried meat ‘Nilii Gaii’ but made with beef. She's excited to share her Indigenous cuisine and stories with the SFU community.
