Cowberry Jam

Lingonberry is a berry that has a bright taste with subtle notes of bitterness. Externally, the product looks like a small red apple with a supple structure. Lingonberries have a disinfecting effect and can be stored much longer than currants, raspberries or strawberries. What you need to know about the product, how to cook lingonberry jam in three different ways, and what medicines can be replaced with sweet fruits?

General characteristics of the dish

Lingonberry is a small bright red berry with a specific sweet and sour taste. The ripening period is from August to September. It grows mainly in the temperate climate zone, also found in forest areas and tundra. 100 grams of fruit contains only 36 calories. The minimum calorie content of the berry allows you to eat it in whole handfuls, without fear for the figure.

Jam is a dessert that is half granulated sugar. It is used as an independent dish, added to pies / cakes / pastries / bread or diluted with boiling water to get a sweet berry drink. The most popular combination is lingonberry + cinnamon + pear / apple.

Useful Properties

Berry extracts are used in traditional medicine to cope with low stomach acidity, gastritis, and hypertension. Fresh fruits have a relaxing sedative effect and are even able to regulate body temperature.

Among the useful properties of jam:

• diuretic effect;
• increased intestinal peristalsis;
• prevention of liver/kidney diseases;
• neutralization of weakness, mild forms of colds, headaches;
• replenishment of the balance of nutrients;
• normalization of the intestines;
• high-quality thirst quencher;
• strengthening of the vascular walls;
• normalization of cholesterol levels.

The chemical composition of the dessert

Possible harm and contraindications

Lingonberry jam can harm with low blood pressure, increased secretory function of the stomach or stomach ulcers (due to the high concentration of organic acids). Also, sweetness is contraindicated in case of individual intolerance to the body, diabetes, obesity, and some eating disorders.

If you get berries for jam on your own, and not in the nearest store, then be especially vigilant at the picking stage. Do not pick lingonberries from roadways, cemeteries, or large factory complexes. A miniature red berry accumulates radioactive substances and may contain harmful compounds such as cobalt, lead, nitric oxide, aldehyde. Substances are deposited on the leaves by means of exhaust gases. The use of such berries can lead to intoxication of the body.

Use in cooking

Recipe #1: “Bez Varki”

We need:

• lingonberries – 1 kilogram;
• filtered water – 300 milliliters;
• sugar – 300 milliliters.

Preparation

Carefully sort the berries and select only fresh, high-quality fruits. Wash them, dry them, put them in glass jars of the desired size. Lingonberries should fill the container by 80%, the remaining 20% ​​is reserved for sugar syrup.

How to prepare syrup? Just combine filtered water with sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil, wait for the sugar to dissolve completely and remove the resulting mixture from the stove. Wait until the syrup has cooled and only then pour the liquid into sterilized jars.

Close the jars with a can key, additionally cover the container with parchment paper, store in a cool place (lower shelf of the refrigerator / pantry / cellar). The berries are soaked in syrup and slightly softened, while retaining their shape.

The absence of heat treatment guarantees the safety of all the beneficial nutrients that the berry abounds in. You can exclude water from the recipe by preparing sweetness based on berries and sugar. The result is a dense raw jam with a bright sour taste.

Recipe number XXUMX: “Five minutes”

We need:

• lingonberries – 1,5 kilograms;
• refined white sugar (can be replaced with coconut) – 1 kilogram.

Wash, sort the berries, put them in a colander and pour boiling water over them – this will help eliminate unnecessary bitterness. Mix the fruits with granulated sugar, mix, leave at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. The berries should release juice, if this does not happen, pour about 100 milliliters of water into the sugar-lingonberry mixture. Send the prepared mass to the pan and put on the stove.

Set the fire to high, wait for it to boil, then reduce the heat to a minimum and cook the mixture, stirring constantly, for 5-7 minutes. Distribute the finished hot jam into sterilized jars and send it to the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, to the cellar or pantry.

Jam “five minutes” retains all the beneficial properties, taste, aroma and structure of the berry. The finished dish can be used not only as a dessert, but also as a filling for pancakes, closed pies, puddings or pies.

Also, jam can be easily turned into a sauce by adding some spices and filtered water.

Use in folk medicine

Lingonberries are a storehouse of vitamins, organic acids, sugar and minerals. In folk medicine, they use the tonic, wound-healing, antipyretic effect of lingonberries. The fruits are widely used in homeopathy for the preparation of essences. The product is recommended for use in gastritis, low acidity of the stomach, colds / infectious diseases. It is believed that the jam fights high fever, relieves sore throats and has a mild sedative effect. Berry juice compensates for vitamin deficiency, improves intestinal motility, and regulates blood pressure. Also, lingonberry jam fights general weakness and neutralizes headaches.

A small jar of lingonberry jam struggled with poor eyesight, anemia and stress. Dessert was added to the daily menu, tea, or simply eaten with spoons, waiting for the desired effect. There is also an opinion that jam removes heavy metals / toxins from the body, is responsible for detoxification. Previously, the pliable lingonberry mass was even smeared on the legs to protect or cure the skin from the fungus. But infusions of berries, flowers and lingonberry leaves were especially popular, but they preferred to use sweet jam as a food product.

Modern medicine provides humanity with a lot of proven ways to deal with stress, anemia, a cold or a fungus. To really cure the disease with jam, you will have to empty more than one jar. What’s more, half of lingonberry jam is made from refined sugar, which will add new health problems rather than solve old ones. Lingonberries are really effective in the composition of medicines or fresh, but it is better to consider jam from it only as an addition to the diet. Use the achievements of modern medicine and be healthy!