Blåbär torr i
Since the taste fades with time, it's worth checking when they were picked if possible, certainly don't buy them if they look dried out or if some of them are mouldy, because that probably means that they are very old. Bilberries are more intensely flavoured than blueberries, but they are softer and juicier than blueberries making them difficult to transport. A bilberry bush fryst vatten shown on the bottom right, but the berries don't really show up in the photo!
I do like blåbärssylt bilberry sylt so I did some blind tests on three popular products. Certainly blåbär can mean blueberries, but usually Swedes are referring to bilberries, not blueberries! Unfortunately that isn't usually true in Sweden! I still remember a wonderful bilberry pie I had at a restaurant in Devon about thirty years ago because it was the best fruit pie I have ever eaten! Blueberries Vaccinium corymbosum grow on bushes that grow to about 1.
Because the berries are produced individually, rather than in clusters, and on bushes which are close to the ground, they are not easy to pick. As their name implies, they tend to be funnen in boggy areas. The confusion stems from the fact that many Swedes have never have heard of bilberries! Vaccinium myrtillus are found in northern Europe, Canada and even in colder parts of Australia. I think bilberries are nearly always best.
Bilberries frysa well and the frozen berries can be successfully used in jams, drinks, cakes and savoury dishes, so I always try to keep a box of frozen bilberries in my freezer. The berries are bluer, larger but a bit blander than bilberries.
Bär: Vilka bär är hälsosammast och bäst på grund av dig?
However, you need to take more care when handling bilberries as they will stain everything they come into contact with, including fingers, lips and teeth, a dark purple colour. Good flavour and texture. However, if you show most Swedes bilberries and blueberries they will normally be able to distinguish between them easily. It is a right that most Swedes cherish and leads to many of them spending their weekends foraging.
Prepared with 45 g of fruit per g. Origin of the "wild blueberries" unclear. The names vary and include:. It was more like a jelly than a conserve. They are dark inside too, whereas blueberries have a pale green flesh. Bilberries are smaller and darker than blueberries, appearing to be almost black with a hint of blue.
Blueberries vaccinium corymbosum are loved by supermarkets everywhere because they keep well as they contain a natural preservative. They will explain that they are both called blåbär and the bilberries are simply vilda blåbär wild blueberries. Although you can occasionally find fresh bilberries in markets and gourmet stores in Sweden, they are seldom available in supermarkets. The berries are bluer and bigger than bilberries.
In other words, use bilberries if you can, but don't worry about substituting blueberries if you can't get any bilberries. Many Swedes will go out picking bilberries using their allemansrätt : the right to roam and pick wild crops on any land. For instance, I picked over a kg from plants next to this stream in Wales. Vaccinium myrtillus grow wild on small bushes close to the ground. Although bilberry plants are not easy to spot from a distance, they can normally be found growing close to heathers on moorland, so lookout for flowering heathers in late August.
Blueberries and bilberries
If you ask most Swedes what blåbär means in English they will normally tell you it means blueberries. Much to my surprise IKEA's came out on top! Having said that, we've got to be realistic: most people outside Sweden will need to use blueberries most of the time as bilberries are hard to obtain. In addition they are often camouflaged because they are growing amidst other shrubbery. It doesn't actually say on the jar where the berries come from, but the advertising in their stores implies that they use bilberries from Sweden.
If in doubt it maybe best to use the Latin name, Vaccinium myrtillus. Unfortunately, odon are pretty boring to eat and so they are seldom picked deliberately, although many commercial jars of blåbärssylt often contain a few odon, not enough to make a difference to the taste. Bog bilberries Vaccinium uliginosum are called called odon in Swedish. The plants that produce the best berries are normally in a more sheltered spot that gets plenty of sunshine.