In the province of Limburg, a dark syrup made from apples and pears sweetens the long winter days to come.

The Sweet Heritage of Limburg’s Appelstroop and its Apple Pear Syrup Counterpart

The Dutch province of Limburg is famous for its appelstroop, a dark brown syrup made of apples, pears and nothing else. You can cook with it, spread it on toast, or drizzle it on pancakes and desserts. At one time, every town in Limburg had its own master syrup-maker. Sometimes even more than one.

Making the syrup was a way of preserving the fruit into a food that would sustain families through the long winter to come. This syrup-making tradition largely disappeared when factories took over and used sugar beets as their main resource.

Fortunately, there are a few syrup makers left who still embrace the traditional way of cooking syrup. ‘It all comes down to the last hour,’ they say: ‘if you cook it too long, the syrup becomes too thick and not easily spreadable. If you stop too early, the syrup will remain too thin and watery.’

Only organic heirloom varieties are good enough for the syrup. The apples and pears go into a huge copper kettle, using precise proportions. Pears give the sweet accent; apples give a more acidic note. Heirloom apples and pears are less sweet and have a more pronounced taste than their supermarket counterparts.

Pears go in first, as apples tend to burn at the bottom of the kettle. Once you’ve had to clean a burnt copper kettle of this size, you’ll never make that mistake again.

Back to the fire pit after hours and hours of cooking, the fruit is ready to go into the giant press. This results in 80 gallons of juice that goes back into the kettle. The fire is on all day again to cook and reduce the juice. Near the end of the second day, the mixture has become much thicker.

From Orchard to Jar: A Two-Day Syrup Ritual

Now comes the moment of truth. The syrup maker determines when the syrup should stop cooking by dripping a small amount on a plate to check the consistency. A large lever quickly lifts the kettle off the fire, and the syrup pours into jars.

The syrup has a very rich taste, not as sweet as you’d expect. The locals know what to eat it with: a cheese sandwich, sausages, and as an ingredient in marinades, stews and desserts. Depending on the variety of apples and pears used, every batch tastes different.

Syrup makers all have their own signature syrup taste. Even without any additives the syrup remains delicious for many years, and can ripen further in the jars, just like a good wine.

The Slow Food movement established the Ark of Taste, an international collection of small-scale quality products that are rooted in culture, history, and tradition and that deserve to be preserved for future generations, just like the Limburg apples and pears syrup.

With this apple pear syrup recipe, you are able to elevate any additional treat with its sweet and savory combination.

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Apple Pear Syrup (Appelstroop)

Author: Ingmar Niezen
Yield: 1 cup 1x

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Description

A sweet Dutch syrup for your morning pastries, desserts, and so much more.

Ingredients

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7 Gala apples, very sweet, juicy, and crisp
7 D’Anjou pears, soft, juicy, and mildly sweet
¼ cup water
½ cup cane sugar

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Instructions

Wash, core, and quarter fruit (keep skin on).
Put whole fruit in pot, pears on the bottom. Pour 1/4 cup water in the pot. Turn pot on low heat and cover with lid for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Check to make sure your flame isn’t too high, the apples and pears should be slowly steaming. Then pour out liquid into a smaller pot.
Put apple/pear mix between two pan trays and squeeze as hard as you can to get juice out, Angle over pot for juice to stream into.
Add ½ cup of cane sugar into small pot and turn on medium heat.
Bring to simmer and let go for 10 to 15 minutes until maple syrup-like consistency.
Syrup should be thick and sticky consistency on spoon and not be too sweet. Cool.