The First Time for Everything - Lingonberry

A reasonably loud voice rang out across the IKEA café, “What on earth is this red sauce? Is it jam? Why would you put jam on meat balls?” The indignation in the young man’s voice was enough to make me giggle involuntarily. I never realised the famous Swedish lingon jam could possibly be such a point of contention. For those of you not in the know, it is a jam made from the lingonberry, and due to the flavour being a mix of sweet and sour, it is often paired with savoury food. Personally, I cannot have meatballs without it!

“Oh, but this mysterious IKEA sauce is delicious,” he continued with his mouth full of food. Meanwhile, his girlfriend was laughing throughout at his rather futile attempt at trying to only eat the so-called mysterious IKEA sauce, while not getting any of the lingon jam on his meatballs and mashed potato. The “mysterious IKEA sauce,” is simply a gravy-like cream sauce. A Swedish staple, not actually exclusive to IKEA cuisine.

Finally, the young man, perhaps overcome with enthusiasm for his first foray into Swedish cuisine, filled his water cup with juice and promptly got told off by a passing staff member, as he had not paid for a refillable soft drink. Chastened and blushing, he shuffled back to his table and continued to loudly criticise the addition of jam to savoury food. Clearly, his tastebuds were not refined enough to fully appreciate the beauty of the lingonberry. All hail the glorious lingonberry!