Bar-le-duc jelly

{{Short description|Currant jelly preparation}}

{{more citations needed|date=November 2017}}

{{Infobox prepared food

| name = Bar-le-duc jelly

| image = Groseille-dutriez-FXcuisine-com.jpg

| image_size = 250px

| caption = A jar of red currant jam

| alternate_name =

| country = France

| region = Bar-le-duc

| creator =

| course =

| type = Spread

| served =

| main_ingredient = Currants (white currants or less commonly, red currants)

| variations =

| calories =

| other = also prepared in some former French colonies, notably New France (now Canada and the United States)

}}

Bar-le-duc jelly ({{IPA|fr|baʁ lə dyk}}) is a highly regarded preparation of jelly originally composed of select whole seeded currants, typically white currants or red currants.{{Cite web|title=Le caviar de Bar-le-Duc|url=http://www.groseille.com/français/confiture-de-groseilles/le-caviar-de-bar-le-duc/|access-date=2021-12-02|website=Maison DUTRIEZ|language=fr-FR}} 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|date=November 2017}} 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 | lc = on}}). The spread has been enjoyed by notables such as Alfred Hitchcock, Ernest Hemingway, Victor Hugo, and Mary, Queen of Scots.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}}