If you ask a Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, or other Eastern European kompot maker what goes into his or her recipe, the answer might vary by region, time of year, and cook. Whether made from fresh cherries or dried apricots, what these fruit punches do have in common is that they're delightfully refreshing and sweet.
Not to be confused with the dessert called compote, kompot is a non-alcoholic drink made from fruit simmered with water and sugar. Kompot has existed since at least the 15th century and was traditionally preserved so that one could enjoy the flavor of fruit year-round. At Eastern European markets one can often buy jars of kompot ready to serve, but it's easy to make at home.
Fresh, frozen, or dried fruits can all be used to make kompot, and the sky's the limit – try cherries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, apricots, peaches, plums, apples, and pears, either alone or in combination. A basic formula is 1 pound of fruit, 4 quarts of water, and 1 cup of sugar. Bring all of the ingredients to a boil, then simmer for about 15 minutes and let cool. Serve chilled with some of the fruit in each glass.
Recipes to try:
• Kompot of Red Currants and Peaches at Food Thru A Lens (pictured)
• Homemade Juice (Kompot) at Natasha's Kitchen
• Plum Kompot at Coffee & Vanilla
• Iced Fruit Drink (Kompot) made with dried fruit at Global Table Adventure
Related: A Traditional Polish Drink with Rhubarb and Honey
(Images: Ira Leoni/Food Thru A Lens)
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Yum! Eastern Europe/Russia has the best fruit recipes. Still haven't tried kissel yet this summer.
my Grandmother's Compote was more of a fruit salad in lots of liquid. She wasn't a great cook, and nobody really cared for her compote, either. my guess is that her mother's was much better
I LOVE COMPOTE!!!
Oh my, the number of memories I have with kompot! And you just provoked all of them to come back at once :) My granma's kompot with fruits straight from the garden (yes, picked by myself)...cherries, currants, raspberries, plums, any fruit in season really...
So funny that this recipe should be posted the day I returned home from a trip to Lithuania where my Russian mother-in-law made this every two days or so for us! Now I'll be making it at home for my husband and daughter!
This is strange. Really. To find kompot is something that is not known to the rest of the world, and to find it in the middle of making some pear kompot myself. I love that one the most. That one is just screaming "SUMMER!" when you open the jar in the middle of January. :-)
Having grown up in Eastern Europe, I have never seen kompot served as a drink. It is, much like Amendelblatt's grandmother's version, rather a fruit salad that comes with a lot of its own juice (we would eat it with a tablespoon out of a soup bowl). Historically, it was one of the simplest ways to preserve fruit - in my childhood, most housewives would make a big batch a few times a year and put it away in jars.
I also believe you are mistaken about the difference between kompot and compote. It just might be that this is not the first time that kompot comes to North America, like so many other foods. It might be that people here in the fifties and sixties liked to puree their kompot and that is how it became compote. In other words, compote just might be the pale North American copy of kompot.
It sure would be nice to do a bit more serious research instead of simply reproducing what a few cooks might believe to be true. It is in ways like this that culinary heritage gets lost... I would love to read comments from people who grew up in Eastern Europe!
Grown up and living in Eastern Europe (ex-YU). Here, kompot is a a cross-over between a dessert and a drink. Generally, the ones that are put in jars are mostly fruit and much sweeter. Therefore, mostly a dessert, because the main goal is to preserve the fruit. The ones made in winter are mostly drink (hot or cold). They are made with fruit available in winter (apples), sometimes with a few dried fruits (plums, pears, raisins) for added flavor. Less sugar is added (or no sugar at all) and more water. Then it is cooked until the fruit gives up all of it's flavor to the liquid. At my grandma's house you could always find some kompot at far end of wooden stove, simmering slowly, ready to pour in your cup :-) Fruit is often discarded when all the liquid is gone.
I, myself, prefer the drink version. But from time to time (like last week) when I get fragrant homegrown pears i put them in jars for winter. Otherwise, if I feel like eating kompot, I buy a jar in a supermarket.
In Romania, "compot" is more of a drink. You can drink it cold or hot, or preserve it for winter, but either way, it looks and tastes the same. I was actually able to find some Bulgarian 'compot' at World Market Explorer, except that they call it 'sour cherries in syrup.' Speaking of which, do Americans grow sour cherries or not? I wasn't able to get an answer yet :)