"lingonberry" news and stories

No, IKEA did not invent the lingonberry. Though, since the furniture giant's cafeteria special of Swedish meatballs with lingonberry jam is the only time many Americans have encountered the lingonberry, it would be easy to think so.

Lingonberry, AKA cowberry, foxberry, whorlberry and partridgeberry, is the fruit of a shrub that grows across northern Europe and the colder regions of North America. They're a bit smaller than cranberries, and shinier, their color the full, vampy red of 1940s movie star lipstick. They're ubiquitous in Scandinavian countries like Sweden, hence the IKEA connection.

Since lingonberries are quite sour, they're almost always cooked down with sugar. Their deep, tart taste goes well with heavy meats - I've enjoyed lingonberry preserves on wienerschnitzel with dilled potatoes and a squeeze of lemon, and seared elk medallions with lingonberry reduction. A dollop of lingonberry jam mixed into your oatmeal or yogurt makes for the kind of elegantly spare breakfast that would seem at home on a simple blond wood table in a whitewashed Nordic kitchen. My Swedish college roommate used to keep a bottle of lingonberry syrup on her bookshelf, to mix with seltzer or hot tea. Lingonberries also make excellent pie or tart filling; heated lingonberry jam is good over rich, plain sweet cream ice cream.