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 is a common food in many countries in Scandanavian countries in Northern Europe, including Norway and Sweden. It is also sometimes eaten in Central and Eastern Europe. Lingonberries (Vaccinium vitis-idaea), which are the main ingredient on lingonberry jam, grow on a short evergreen shrub in the Arctic tundra in the Northern Hemisphere.

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.

Lingonberry jam is also served with oatmeal porridge (sometimes together with cinnamon), mashed potatoes and some desserts.

Composition

Quality lingonberry jam is prepared with berries, sugar and sometimes a small amount of water. Cheaper varieties of lingonberry jam often use less lingonberries and add apples to cut the cost.

Sweetened lingonberries (rårörda lingon) or (rørte tyttebær) are made fresh by just mixing berries and sugar, without boiling. Because of the high levels of benzoic acid in lingonberries, the berries keep well without any preservatives.

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. Archived from the original on August 16, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Sweetened lingonberries - Rårörda lingon". swedishfood.com. Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Rørte tyttebær". nordicdiner.net. Retrieved December 1, 2019.

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