Lingon jam ideal with fried herring – and porridge

Lingon jam was one of the things that surprised me when I came to Sweden. If it's all right for the Swedes, I'll just have to get used to it, I thought. But to my surprise I found that it tasted not bad at all, in fact it was really good.

Just imagine a visit to Simrishamn, with lunch down in the harbour, fried Baltic herring, mashed potatoes and lingon jam – food fit for the gods. But I still think the only proper way to eat porridge is with cold milk.

Lingonberries are very good for you. They contain a lot of fibre, which helps the digestion, and vitamins and minerals which affect all functions in the body. They counteract bacteria and are beneficial in treating different kinds of inflammation.

Lingonberries, in Latin vaccinium vitis idaea, are related to blueberries and cranberries. The berries are ripe in August-September, when you can buy them for a few weeks at the market.

Lingon jam

1.5 litres lingonberries

1 dl water

9 dl sugar

Method:

1. Clean the berries thoroughly, removing all leaves and stalks. Put them in a big pan (about 4 litres).

2. Pour in 1 dl water.

3. Boil up the lingonberries and the water, remove scum and boil for 10 minutes. Stir from time to time.

4. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the sugar a little at a time. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.

5. Let the jam stand for about 10 minutes, to allow the berries to be evenly distributed in the jam.

6. Wash glass jars. Let them dry in the oven at about 100'C. Pour the jam into the warm jars.

7. Fill the jars to the very top, put on the lids and stand the jars upside down until next day.

Store the jam at room temperature , keep opened jars in the fridge.

Another way to use lingonberries is to preserve them uncooked – quick and easy. For one batch of uncooked preserved lingonberries you will need:

5 dl frozen lingonberries

½-1 dl sugar

Mix the frozen berries and sugar in a big bowl, stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Let the mixture stand for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pour into clean jars, store in the fridge.