Dried Fruit Compote (Uzvar): Ukrainian Recipe
When I was little, lunch rarely had fewer than three courses. Back then, after all, the way people ate was more sensible. As usual: a soup, a main course, and compote for dessert. The word compote means a dessert drink. Compote is made from fruit or berries. Most often the fruit and berries are simmered in sugar syrup. Very often dried fruit and berries are used instead of fresh ones. That is how dried fruit compote is made.
For obvious reasons, compote from fresh fruit and berries is a very seasonal thing. Cherries and plums, for example, do not ripen all year round. Canned compotes put up for winter are familiar to almost everyone. But nothing compares to compote made from fresh apples or cherries. Then again, dried apples, cherries, pears, plums and so on are always available. By the way, uzvar turns out not just as good, but much better. Dried fruit compote is simply different.
The whole charm of a dried fruit drink is that it does not need to be boiled. It is brewed and left to steep. In the old days the dried fruit drink was called uzvar or vzvar. In Ukraine the word uzvar is used far more often than compote. Uzvar is usually a cold, refreshing drink. People do drink warm or hot dried fruit compote, but rarely. Uzvar has to steep and cool down. Ideally in a cellar, if you have one. The very word uzvar contains the cooking method: the drink is “brewed”. The dried fruit is brought to a boil and left to steep. Ideally, a ceramic pot with the dried fruit and water is put overnight into a stove that was heated and is slowly cooling down. Only some 300 years ago uzvar was considered a Christmas drink. I don't know about that: at my grandmother's we drank dried fruit compote all summer long.
The drink is very rarely made with sugar. Most often, if the fruit was fully ripe before drying, a sweet compote is guaranteed without any sweeteners.
Otherwise, honey is added. Uzvar ends up with quite a lot of fruit pulp. I honestly don't know which is tastier: the compote or the fruit.
When cooking, it is important to respect the cooking time of each kind of fruit. Different dried fruits cook very differently. Usually the denser berries and fruit go in first, and the softer ones are added later.
The drink is usually made from whatever dried fruit mix is available. It always contains dried apples, pears and plums. Other dried fruits, such as cherries, cornelian cherries, apricots, raisins, cranberries and others, are a nice bonus.
Ingredients
6 l of uzvar
- Dried fruit mix 0.5 kg
- Water 6 l
- Natural honey to taste
Step-by-step recipe
- To make uzvar compote, people rarely gather many kinds of fruit and berries. Most often it is apples cut into wedges or slices, small sweet pears and Hungarian (Italian prune) plums. The plums are sometimes lightly smoked, and then the compote gets an amazing aroma.
- Since dried fruit is dried outdoors in the shade, everything needs to be washed free of dust before making the drink. It is best done in two stages.
- First, put the dried fruit mix in a large deep bowl and cover it with lukewarm water. After 2–3 minutes, gently stir the fruit in the water with your hands. Drain the water.
- Then transfer the dried fruit to a large colander and rinse under cold running water. It is also a good idea to sort through it, removing anything clearly spoiled and any unexpected finds. Once, quite by accident, I found an unknown coin, about the size of a Soviet “Olympic” ruble, in a dried fruit mix bought at the market.
- Before you start, decide how you will make the compote. Since most people probably don't have a wood stove at home, I suggest a regular large pot and a stovetop. Looking ahead, I'll say that a large ceramic pot is ideal. It holds heat beautifully for a long time, steeping the compote to perfection. But, as it turned out, an ordinary stainless steel pot copes with the job just fine.
- Pour 6 l of filtered, well or spring water into the pot. The cleaner the water, the tastier and richer the flavor. I remember that as children we were sent to fetch water for compote from one particular well, because the water there tasted better. Strictly speaking, you can use more water; I say 6 l because that is my biggest pot. Bring the water to a boil and drop in the washed dried fruit, all at once. Without covering the pot, bring the water back to a boil and immediately take the pot off the heat. The compote must not boil. It has to steep.
- If the compote is still not quite sweet enough for your taste, add honey. Put the honey in a cup, dilute it with a little compote and pour the mixture into the pot.
- Wrap the pot of compote in a quilted or wool blanket and leave it until it has steeped and cooled to room temperature. This usually takes 4–5 hours.
- In principle, the compote is now ready to drink. But compote should be cold. Put the pot of compote in a cellar or the fridge. Ideally, overnight. The dried fruit will settle to the bottom, the drink itself will clear and taste its best. The fruit pulp, by the way, is a dessert in its own right. Many will agree with me.
- No fizzy soft drink can compare to uzvar.
| Yield: | 6 l of uzvar |
| Calories: | 22 |
| Prep: | 30 mins |
| Cook: | 6 h |
| Ready in: | 6–7 hours including cooling |
| Category: | Desserts and Drinks |
| Cuisine: | Ukrainian cuisine |
| Rating: |
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4.6
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