About
Spruce tips, the young, green early growth on spruce trees are one of the easiest foraged foods you can harvest. They're delicious in the right place, but have a strong citrus flavor raw and need to be used carefully or they can ruin a dish.
Quick Links
If you're new to cooking with spruce tips, make sure to check out The Forager's Guide to Spruce Tips, Classic Spruce Tip Syrup, ice cream, panna cotta and key lime pie.
Different species, different flavors
Each type of spruce tree will have tips with a different, but similar flavor and some taste better than others. For example, I like the taste of white and blue spruce, but I can't stand black spruce.
The tips are used in desserts, where they can be added where you might like the flavor of mint, or honeydew melon. They have a special piney taste that works very well with cream.
Yew: Toxic Look Alike
The only real look alike to worry about is yew (Taxus spp). These are commonly planted in landscaping and should never be eaten.
Other Coniferous Ingredients
Spruce tips are only one of a few parts of evergreen trees you can cook with: pine cones and pine pollen are two others to know.
Young Pine Cones
Young pine cones are used to make Mugolio: The Italian Pine Cone Syrup, as well liquors called Zirbenschnapps.
Pine Pollen
Pine PollenThe male cones of pine trees make pollen during a few days in the Spring, and it's harvested in a few areas around the world, most notably China, where it's used to make a sort of Spring candy.
If you want to see how to harvest your own, check out my post on Foraging and Cooking with Pine Pollen. Typically I use pollen in baking, as in my pollen bread and pollen pancakes.
Spruce Tip Key Lime Pie
Pine Cone-Cider Jam / Varenye
Classic Spruce Tip Syrup
Spruce Tip Panna Cotta
Spruce Chocolate Mousse
Spruce Tip Posset
Spruce Tips: Harvesting, Cooking and Recipes
Caramelized Spruce Syrup
Fiddleheads with Spruce Tips and Lemon Agrumato
Spruce Ham
Spruce Poussin, With Apple Mustard Sauce
Spruce Tip Ice Cream
Spruce/Fir Tip Pickles
