(French for Liège syrup, in Flemish) is a Belgian jam or jelly-like spread. Apple and pear are principally used, often with dates: other fruit such as apricot can be used as well. Sugar and other sweeteners are not normally needed.
Cored fruit is cooked slowly until it falls apart, releasing the pectin from the skin. The compote is then pushed through a, removing the skin, and breaking the fruit into mush. It is then reduced by slow cooking over several hours until the pectin sets, in the same way jam is, then tested by dropping a test piece into cold water. Typically, of fruit produce of syrup. The slow cooking process is essential; one guide says that cooking down should take about 10 hours.[1]
, as its name would suggest, comes from the Liège region of Belgium, which roughly corresponds to the modern Liège Province. Many syrup makers were historically found there, though today syrup makers are primarily concentrated in the Pays de Herve region in the northeast of the province. The largest producer is Meurens in the Aubel municipality, producing two thousand tonnes of it per year under the trademark /.[2] The area is rich in smaller producers including Charlier[3] in Henri-Chapelle, or Delvaux[4] in Horion-Hozémont.
Its primary use is as a spread, usually on a tartine. It is often accompanied by cheese, such as Herve cheese or, the latter making a dish called .
It is also used as a sauce or part of a sauce in numerous dishes, serving as pancake sauce on boûkète,[5] or on lacquemant waffles, or sauce for the cooked pear dessert of . Sauces with are even used in the meat dishes boulets à la Liégeoise (meatballs) and (rabbit).