In the country of apples and pears - Herve - Belgium
the gentle hills of the Pays de Herve, a slow fire keeps an old tradition alive — transforming apples and pears into one of Belgium’s most emblematic flavours.
SIROPERIE CHARLIER — A LOCAL PRODUCT MADE AT THE FARM
Among the orchards of the Pays de Herve, the Charlier family has been making sirop de Liège the
traditional way — patiently, quietly, and with the same gestures passed down through generations. For six weeks every autumn, the fire burns day and night as apples and pears are cooked down to
their purest essence, without sugar or additives, until they become the thick, dark syrup that has become part of Belgium’s culinary heritage.
The sirop de Liège was born from necessity. In a region where winters were long and fruit was abundant, farmers sought to preserve their harvest in a form that would last through the cold months. Over time, it became more than a practical food — it turned into a symbol of the region’s self-reliance and attachment to the land.
The Pays de Herve itself seems shaped by this rhythm of patience. Rolling fields, apple trees heavy with fruit, stone farms, and quiet roads linking one village to another. Here, tradition is not a performance but a way of life — a connection between land, craft, and community that endures in every spoonful of syrup.
