Felix lingonberries skin#

If drunk neat, Lingon 100% is quite dry, but it makes an interesting alcohol-free alternative to snaps. The berries are picked from the forests near Grythyttan and Saxhyttan in central Sweden, pressed and the juice is then pasturised before bottling. Most lingonberry drinks have water, sugar and preservatives added, but Lingon 100% has nothing added. Outside of Scandinavia, lingonberry drinks are sold at specialist shops, in IKEA stores and online. At Ishotellet (The Ice Hotel) guests staying in the cold rooms are woken in the morning with a nice mug of warm lingonberry juice, something that is very much appreciated after a very cold night. They can be served hot or cold, but are more popular warm. Lingonberry drinks are popular in Sweden. In my opinion, it is too jam-like and doesn't have nearly as much flavour as either homemade or Felix rårörda lingon. Lingon sylt (lingonberry jam) is available from IKEA. It is more jelly-like and has fewer whole berries than homemade rårörda lingon, but the flavour is good. In the UK, Felix rårörda lingon can be obtained from specialist suppliers or online. However, the colour can fade a bit after a couple of months, so I tend to keep some berries in the freezer and make a fresh batch every now and again. Rårörda lingon keeps forever in sterilised jars, thanks to the high level of benzoic acid which acts as a natural preservative. *Sterilise by washing in a dishwasher or by putting rinsed jars in an oven at 125✬ (250✯, gas ½, fan 120✬) for 10 minutes. (Some people squash some of the berries with the back of a spoon to release some of their juice to make it easier to dissolve the sugar, but I try and avoid doing this as I prefer the berries to be left whole.)Ĥ. Store in a cool dark place in sterilised jars*. Have a taste and add a little more sugar if desired, but avoid adding so much sugar that it will not dissolve. Stir or shake every now and again until the sugar has all dissolved, which might take a day or more. Add 50% by weight of caster (superfine) sugar. Weigh the berries and put them in a bowl or a jar.ģ. Pick over the berries to remove any leaves or twigs, rinse them and then drain so the berries are reasonably dry.Ģ. Instead they are usually transformed into rårörda lingon (literally, raw stirred lingonberries). Making rårörda lingonīecause lingonberries are rather bitter they are seldom served on their own. Swedes consume massive quantities of lingonberries, so it is quite common to find offers for 5 kg of lingonberries on markets in Sweden! Most Swedes have a large bag of lingonberries in their freezer. Outside of Scandinavia it is hard to buy fresh lingonberries, but sometimes it is possible to buy frozen lingonberries from specialist shops or online suppliers. Out of season, it is also easy to buy frozen lingonberries in Sweden. They are somewhat messy, as the juice tends to leak so often market traders put on a pair of plastic gloves when serving lingonberries. They are surprisingly inexpensive at around 50 SEK/kg (€5/kg, £4/kg, $3/lb). Buying lingonberriesįresh lingonberries are sold all over Sweden in August and September.

As a result Swedish children were traditionally encouraged to have lingonberry jam with porridge for breakfast and to have a portion of lingonberries with many main courses. Eating lingonberries is said to ward off certain cancers and to help prevent some types of infection.

Felix lingonberries skin#

Lingonberries are full of powerful antioxidants which are said to neutralise the sun's radiation and help prevent skin damage. Then they become quite sophisticated, as the combination of their natural bitterness with the sweetness from the sugar goes well with game, meat, fish and with several desserts. They have shiny, rather hard skins when fresh, but they are transformed with a little sugar. Their tasteĪlthough the berries might look attractive on bushes they are not good to eat in their raw state as they are quite bitter. They ripen in August and September and are picked with a scrabbler, a wide fork-like tool, which can strip a bush very quickly. Lingonberries grow in the wild in Sweden on small bushes in woodlands and on moorlands. Lingonberries are also known as cowberries and occasionally as mountain or lowbush cranberries, red bilberries or whortleberries. They are considered to be an essential accompaniment to many Swedish dishes, most notably köttbullar (meatballs), kåldomar (stuffed cabbage rolls) and raggmunk(potato pancakes). Lingonberries are widely used in Swedish food.