2026 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship 
A delicious accompaniment to the ragoût d’agneau (lamb stew) of the Bénichon meal, Poire à Botzi AOP is a typical Fribourg variety and also the first Swiss fruit to benefit from an AOP label. It takes its name from the patois "botset", which means "bunch". This little pear, in fact, develops in clusters of up to five fruits, advises Michel Losey from Sévaz, like the well-informed professional he is.
It takes its name from the patois "botset", which means "bunch". This little pear, in fact, develops in clusters of up to five fruits, advises Michel Losey from Sévaz, like the well-informed professional he is.
If the Poire à Botzi AOP is also profoundly linked to the Bénichon, it is because it was always harvested at the same time as the great celebration of Autumn, that is, mid-September. Each farmer had a Poire à Botzi tree in his orchard and could thus enhance his Bénichon meal with these luscious and tasty marvels. For the pear reveals its most surprising flavours when it is cooked. A caramelized taste that goes equally well with main dishes as with desserts.
A delicate cultivation process
Only some twenty farmers grow this fruit in the region. Very sensitive to its surroundings, it acquires its flavour according to the place where it is cultivated. Thus a pear growing near a forest will not have the same flavour as one growing near a field of rape. Its cultivation demands much care and supervision. The period of maturation is also very short, no more than a few days. The harvest is, therefore, a true race against time.
Recipe
Preparation : 160 min
Ingredients :
• 3 or 4 Botzi pears per person
• 1 l red wine
• 300g brown sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
Preparation :
Wash the pears, take the "eye" out and leave the stalk. Cook the wine, sugar and cinnamon for 30 to 40 min. Add the pears, cook about 1h30. Test the pears, they should be well cooked, a little shrivelled. Reduce the cooking juice into a caramel and pour it over the pears.
Cuisine & traditions au Pays de Fribourg. Editions La Sarine.
Produits du Terroir du Pays de Fribourg
Route de Chantemerle 41
1763 Granges-Paccot
+41 (0)26 467 30 30
