Lingon

Lingon are lingonberries, small, bright red berries that grow wild in Nordic forests and are picked in late summer and fall. They taste sharp, tart and a little bitter, a bit like cranberries but softer and more aromatic. Swedes rarely eat them raw. They are almost always sweetened, as jam or stirred with sugar, and served with savory food.

How to use it

The classic way is rårörda lingon, "raw-stirred lingonberries":

1. Put 1 kg (2.2 lb) of cleaned berries in a large bowl.
2. Add about 300 g (1½ cups) of sugar.
3. Stir now and then for 30 to 60 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved and the berries are juicy. Do not cook them. This is a kind of maceration.
4. Spoon into clean jars and keep in the fridge.

Lingonberries hold a natural preservative, so raw-stirred berries keep for weeks in the fridge. Cooked lingonsylt (jam) keeps longer.

Serve them with:

• Swedish meatballs with gravy and mashed potatoes.
• Potato pancakes (raggmunk) and fried pork, or thin pancakes.
• Black pudding, liver dishes, game and roast meats.
• Porridge, or as part of the smörgåsbord.

Substitutes

Outside Scandinavia, lingonberry jam is sold in many supermarkets and Scandinavian food shops. Frozen lingonberries are also sold in some places. If you cannot find them:

• Cranberry sauce is the closest. Choose a tart, whole-berry kind, or cook fresh or frozen cranberries with less sugar than usual into a quick compote.
• Red currant jelly works with game and meatballs, though it is sweeter and smoother.
• Sour cherry jam or a tart redcurrant compote will do in a pinch.

How to store it

Freeze fresh berries spread out on a tray, then bag them. They keep for a year. Use them straight from frozen, or thaw them in the fridge. Keep raw-stirred lingon in the fridge and use a clean spoon.

In recipes

Lingon is the Swedish word for both the berry and the plant. Lingonsylt is jam, lingonsås is a sauce, and rårörda lingon is raw-stirred. When a Swedish recipe just says "serve with lingon", it means one of these sweetened forms, not plain berries.