Southern Belgian meatballs (boulets à la liégeoise)

In Belgium, you’ll find two very different types of meatballs in the north and south. We prefer those from the French-speaking south: larger, with a dark brown, slightly sweet sauce, and served with crispy fries and mayo.

We learned this recipe in Liège, a university town known for its sirop de Liège, a thick reduction of apple and pear puree that resembles apple butter. It’s mixed with dark ale and a touch of mustard to form the sauce, which is studded with raisins and baked with the meatballs in a roasting pan. The meatballs themselves are simple, made with ground pork and veal (in a 60:40 ratio), onions, parsley, eggs, milk and a bit of salt.

The final step is removing the meatballs from the roasting pan, loosening the sauce with a little water, and cooking it over medium-high heat until thickened and reduced. In addition to the traditional fries and mayo, most versions of boulets à la liégeoise include lightly dressed mixed greens—usually radicchio and frisée, which are bitter enough to balance the sweet sauce.