Bar-le-duc jelly (French pronunciation:[baʁlədyk]) is a highly regarded preparation of jelly originally composed of select whole seeded currants, typically white currants or red currants.[1] The name Bar-le-duc refers to the geographical origin of the preparation in the French town of Bar-le-duc. Since the jelly's first documented reference in 1344, the culinary name "Lorraine jelly" is occasionally used, as the city of Bar-le-duc lies within the boundaries of the former province of Lorraine.
Commonly served as an accompaniment to game, spread on bread, or with foie gras, it is considered a culinary luxury, purportedly sharing an elite status akin to Beluga caviar and is colloquially referred to as Bar caviar.[citation needed] The typical product is a jam, with the berries remaining intact in a thin syrup. About 200 currants go into one 85 gram jar (approximately 3 ounces), which costs approximately €18 a jar in Bar-le-Duc (as of 2021) and $40 in the US (as of 2008[update]). The spread has been enjoyed by notables such as Alfred Hitchcock, Ernest Hemingway, Victor Hugo, and Mary, Queen of Scots.[citation needed]
Examples
As of 2012[update], the House of Dutriez in the town of Bar-le-Duc provides one of the very few hand-made preparations still on the market, la confiture de Groseilles de Bar le Duc (Currant Preserve). The traditionally hand-made product involves épépineurs or épépineuses (seed extractors) de-seeding the currants with goose quills to flick out the tiny seeds without disturbing the flesh of the small fruit. Sometimes sweetened jellies, consisting of mashed and sieved currants of a significantly lower cost and quality, appear on the market under the same name.[2]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Ward, Artemas (1911). "The Grocer's Encyclopedia". The Grocer's Encyclopedia.
