European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 13, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Neighbors  poster advertises the French town is famous for getting itself in a Jam currant events Leonine Chassere has been cleaning currants for the Jam for 70 of her 83 a Goose Quill is used to pit the photos by Regis Bossu Kominicki staff writer so enchanted was Alfred Hitchcock with the currant preserves made in the French Village of bar Leduc that he refused to eat breakfast unless the table was set with at least a Jar or and yet Hitchcock appetite for configures de bar Leduc was hardly As far Back As the 16th French Royalty bought up much of the towns calling the sugary mixture of berries and syrup Little rays of less Royal gourmets Over the years have dubbed the Jam French bar Leduc hugs the rolling Hills of Frances Lorraine about 25 Miles South of Verdun along the sacred Road that commemorates the fierce world War i fighting in the until 1905 the town was known for its production of pinot noir wine Mucha painted advertising posters for the caves of Barle Ducs Roy Sevres at the turn of the Century but the vines were lost to a fou year by 1910 most of the surrounding vineyards were in their owners turning to farming or searching for other for the answer was the usually red or White berries that grow Well in much of Central currants were hardly new to Over the centuries As Many As two dozen family run firms had produced currant mixing the berries with boiling sugar to get the Sweet the towns narrow streets were often crowded with hunched Over shaded cleaning the berries for by the Start of this Century the number of firms producing the Jam dwindled to less than but the Clamour for it had by the end of world War ii the town was filling orders for jars in the one month july of today a single family run firm producing As Many As jars of the preserves for customers in England and the United the other companies had slowly died says Jacques and the remaining owner had no he was 91 and prepared to see his company die with him when he sold out to Duriez has kept things pretty much the Way he found he grows about half the currants used in the Jam himself the rest Are bought from Farmers in the 30 Miles or so surrounding in the last Century the families making the preserves merely waited for the local people to bring the berries already cleaned and that Doest happen of but we have a Small number of Farmers who grow the berries and a group of men and women who clean them for Duriez uses red berries for his Jam almost although a Small Supply of White thought to be sweeter and of better usually find their Way into the but there is rarely enough White Jam for most of it never makes it outside of he and although Black currant Jam is popular in Duriez does not buy the Black berries our business is we Are just too Small to handle All the cleaning the currants is a task that has eased Little m the last four the berries Are their stems Cut and using the hollow Shaft of a Goose Feather trimmed to a the tiny pits Are removed from the Center of the usually there Are Only two or three Leontine Chassere deftly used a Quill to scrape pits from the mornings but i have found stripes Magazine june