John Myers
The cranberry or cranberry is an American relative of the native lingonberry. However, the two types of berries differ significantly in size, taste, origin, and botanical growth form. Cranberries are larger and taste much more sour than the tart-sour to spicy-sweet cranberries.
Cranberries grow throughout the northern hemisphere on a frost-resistant dwarf shrub that bears small red berries about half a centimeter to one centimeter in size. The berries can be used in many ways. They are rarely served raw – pickled, stirred into compote with sugar, or boiled down to make jam, they go well with game or cheese as well as with desserts such as baked apples. Cranberries are also often processed into juice.
Today, cranberries are mainly cultivated as a crop in North America. They grow as subshrubs that climb over the ground in moist locations. The berries of the plant are much larger than those of the lingonberry. They have a firm flesh and are also red in colour. They are about the size of small cherries. Cranberries are also not eaten raw because of their extremely sour taste. Cranberry juice is often used as the basis for soft drinks and mixed drinks. In the United States, cranberry compote is a popular traditional Thanksgiving accompaniment to roast turkey.
