Kompot

Basically just boiled fruit in water, it’s a common beverage in most slavic homes. It’s very versatile, you can use whatever fruit you have at home to experiment with flavors and sweetness levels. The more fruit to water ratio, the more concentrated the kompot will be. For sweetness I prefer to use raisins, but feel free to add sugar or honey once it’s strained. For this recipe I’ll be using a 12 qt stockpot, if you’re going for more or less I would adjust quantities accordingly.

Notes: I usually use frozen berries for a deep red color, like blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries. I love adding frozen cherries or cranberries (only a few cranberries because they’re very tart) if I have them around. Haven’t really tried to use tropical fruits like mango or pineapple, but never hurts to try it out. Also, if you have an Eastern European market around you I highly suggest to check their frozen fruit isle. They’ll usually have more variety like frozen red and black currants, gooseberries, sour cherry, and sea buckthorn. Essentially you have endless possibilities with flavor combinations.

Kompot:

• mixed frozen berries, at least 2-3 lbs

• apples, 3-4 medium

• raisins, 2 cups (golden or regular)

• water, enough to fill stock pot

Method:

1. Add all the frozen fruit, apples, and raisins to a pot. Give the apples a rough chop into 6-ish pieces. Fill the rest of the pot with water and place on medium-high heat with the lid on. Keep an eye on the stove, as soon as it come to a boil turn the heat to low and let simmer for 5 minutes.

2. Remove from heat and let cool for at least an hour before moving to the fridge. The longer it sits the deeper the flavor, so I recommend letting it sit in the fridge overnight.

3. Once fully cooled, strain and dispose of the fruit (when I was little I was a big fan of eating the cooked fruit, especially apples). At this point you can add some extra sweetness with honey or sugar. Just make sure to taste the kompot before you do, depending on which fruits used it can already be sweet enough to your liking.