Lingonberry jam

Lingonberry jam
Lingonberry jam with Swedish blood pudding served with boiled potatoes and cucumbers
TypeSpread
Region or stateNorthern, Central and Eastern Europe
Main ingredientsLingonberries, sugar
Lingonberry jam on toast

Lingonberry jam[a] is a staple of Northern European food. It is popular in Central and Eastern Europe. Lingonberries (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) grow on a short evergreen shrub in the Arctic tundra in the Northern Hemisphere.[1][2]

History

Lingonberry jam with mustamakkara, a traditional food in Tampere

In Sweden, lingonberries are sold as jam and juice. Lingonberry jam is served with meat courses, such as meatballs, beef stew or liver dishes (like maksalaatikko). It is also served with fried herring. Traditional dishes such as kroppkakor, pitepalt, potato pancakes, spinach pancakes, kåldolmar, fläskpannkaka, mustamakkara and black pudding often have lingonberries. The jam is also served with oatmeal porridge (sometimes together with cinnamon), mashed potatoes and some desserts.[3]

Composition

The best lingonberry jam is prepared with berries, sugar and sometimes a small amount of water. Cheaper varieties can be diluted with apples. Sweetened lingonberries (rårörda lingon) or (rørte tyttebær) are made fresh by just mixing berries and sugar, without boiling. Because of the benzoic acid, which is found in high amounts in lingonberries, the berries keep well without any preservatives.[4][5]

Notes

  1. ↑ Swedish: lingonsylt, Norwegian: tyttebærsyltetøy, Danish: tyttebærsyltetøj, Estonian: pohlamoos, Finnish: puolukkahillo, German: Preiselbeermarmelade, Latvian: brūkleņu ievārījums, Lithuanian: bruknių uogienė

References

  1. ↑ Hall, Joan Houston (2002). Dictionary of American Regional English. Harvard University Press. p. 47. ISBN 0-674-00884-7. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
  2. ↑ "Vaccinium vitis-idaea L." theplantlist.org. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Lingonberries". swedishfood.com. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Sweetened lingonberries - Rårörda lingon". swedishfood.com. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Rørte tyttebær". nordicdiner.net. Retrieved December 1, 2019.

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