This sweet and cozy dish is part of a grandmother's legacy. But don't call it Bubbe food.
ByRonnie Fein|
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There’s an essential comfort in recipes that come from our grandmothers.
For generations, they have passed down the love of family by cooking Jewish dishes. I think updating classic Jewish cuisine is a good way to make sure that love endures.
“Kumput,” was my grandmother’s Yiddish-accented name for stewed, dried fruit compote. When I was a kid, this dish was a staple in Ashkenazi homes. Everybody’s Jewish grandmother made it. It was especially popular at Passover, but some bubbes, like mine, made it all year.
In his book, “Encyclopedia of Jewish Food,” Gil Marks explains that sweetened, cooked fruit had long been prized in the Islamic world and that the method for cooking this sugar-laden favorite made its way to Europe by way of the usual trade routes. As the sugar beet became widely available in eastern Europe, the familiar dish that we know as “compote” became a regular in Jewish households.
Fresh produce was only available during warmer seasons of course, but our frugal ancestors preserved what was left by drying and storing fruit for the winter. Come Passover, the dried fruit was ready for cooking: sweet, deliciously bathed in syrup and also parve, making it the perfect dessert after a festive meal. And, as Joan Nathan points out, perfect for Shabbat, as you cook it ahead.
My grandma’s compotewas made mostly with prunes. Sometimes, as an indulgence, she included the more costly dried apricots.I wasn’t a huge fan of her compote when I was a child, so I didn’t cook it until decades later, after a visit to Egypt. It was there I tried khoshaf, a dish similar to Ashkenazi compote, and found it to be smashingly delicious.
I started experimenting. I decided to jazz the dish up to be more stylishly modern and compelling, even for kids. I still used prunes and apricots, but also included a variety of dried fruit: figs, cranberries, dates, apples, cherries, raisins and mango. And I’ve changed my grandma’s recipe in other ways too: she cooked the fruit in lemony-sugared-water, but I use fruit juice (whatever kind I have in the fridge, usually mango, pineapple or orange juice) and, on occasion, have added some wine, usually sweet wine (such as a German Riesling). Grandma occasionally added some cinnamon; I’ve cooked the dish seasoned with cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, cardamom pods, vanilla beans, crystallized ginger and/or star anise. Occasionally I slip in a few whole peppercorns. I sometimes use sugar, but more often I make this compote with maple syrup or honey. The version below is my favorite.
These days I always have this compotein my fridge. We eat it frequently for breakfast with plain, Greek style yogurt. It’s also a treat over oatmeal or on top of pancakes or French Toast. But I’ve also served it with ice cream, whipped cream or sweetened mascarpone for dessert. A few times I’ve even pureed a small amount, stirred in some Sriracha and used it as barbecue sauce. This is a versatile dish with wide appeal.
And while it’s not my grandma’s “kumput,” I still think of her every time I make it.
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Stewed Dried Fruit
★★★★4 from 1 review
Print Recipe
While this recipe may be a blast from the past, it’s still delicious to this day.
1 ½cups water (or ¾ cup water plus ¾ cup sweet white wine)
1 ½cups mango or apricot nectar or orange juice or orange/pineapple juice
¼cup maple syrup
1 3” cinnamon stick
1 3” vanilla bean split open
2 Tbsp chopped crystallized ginger
6–8 whole dried figs
6–8 pitted Medjool dates
1cup dried apricot halves
8–10 prunes
½cup raisins or dried cranberries or cherries
Instructions
Place the water, juice, maple syrup, cinnamon stick and vanilla bean in a saucepan large enough to hold all the dried fruit.
Bring to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes.
Add the fruit and simmer for another 15-20 minutes or until the fruit is soft. Let the fruit cool in the pan.
Discard the cinnamon stick and vanilla bean. Let cool.
Serve with the poaching liquid.
Author:Ronnie Fein
Prep Time:15 minutes
Cook Time:15-20 minutes
Category:Dessert
Method:One-pot
Cuisine:Ashkenazi
3 comments
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Carol SlosbergSeptember 10, 2023
How far in advance of serving can this be prepared? Thanks
Reply
Shannon SarnaSeptember 11, 2023
This can be prepared several days in advance.
BonnieDecember 30, 2023
I do a low calorie version in the microwave. Place fruit , lemon cut in quarters and cover with water. Cover dish and microwave on high until boiling. Add more water and microwave until boiling again. Remove from oven , cover dish with plastic wrap and let stand until cool. Refrigerate. Mix with cooked sweet potatoes for a quick Tsimmes
★★★★
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A compote is simply preserved or cooked fruit. Your mum probably called it stewed fruit, so compote is just a new name for an old favourite. Compote is French for 'mixture' and back in medieval Europe, it was a dessert of whole fruits cooked in water with sugar and spices.
Absolutely yes. Nothing is ever quite as good as simply eating fruit in its fresh, raw form but stewing apples is still a great way to enjoy their many nutritional benefits. Nutritious – Apples are high in fibre, vitamin C, antioxidants and polyphenols (great for the gut).
Add spices (if desired) and heat on a medium stovetop Stir occasionally, until soft Turn off heat and mash with a fork Let cool, then place into an airtight container. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 7 days.
Place the juice, water, honey, cinnamon stick, cloves and orange peel in a saucepan large enough to hold all the dried fruit. Bring to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the fruit and simmer another 18-20 minutes or until the fruit is soft.
Most fruits are quite sweet (and will get sweeter in the process) so just a spoonful or two (or even none!) of sugar/honey/maple syrup/etc is enough for a luscious result. Adding some acidity for contrast is nice too - a bit of lemon (or orange) juice works well.
The Two-Hour Rule: Cooked food can only stay in the temperature danger zone for a maximum of two hours. After two hours, the food should be consumed, stored correctly, or thrown away. This includes all cooked leftovers, chopped fruits and vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy products [2].
Yes, the way you cook your food can have a major effect on the amount of nutrients in it. Boiling fruit and veggies in large amounts of water for a long time can lose a lot of their nutrients as they are leached into the water. But if they are lightly steamed, they will retain much more of their nutrients.
Store any leftover fruit, covered, in the fridge for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost thoroughly before using. If you are not going to cook the apple straightaway, put the pieces into a bowl of water with a squeeze of lemon juice. This will stop them going brown.
Either fill jars with stewed fruit/tomatoes OR pack the jars snugly with raw fruit, halved or quartered and cover with cold water or 'light sugar syrup' (see directions under the sugar header above). Use a chopstick to remove any air bubbles and top up the liquid to within 1cm from the top of the jar.
Once the fruit has softened, remove the lid and let the liquid reduce – you want to end up with a fairly thick consistency. Serve over cereal, yoghurt, pancakes, granola, muesli or even with roast pork!
Most of the time, stewed fruit wins out because it's much easier and uses far less sugar. It's a really versatile thing to have in the fridge, ready to stir through desserts and cakes or to top off a bowl of oatmeal or yoghurt at breakfast time.
A compote can go with almost everything you eat—from breads and desserts to pork and cheeses. You can serve a compote warm or chilled, chunky or smooth, making it a highly versatile condiment, topping, or accessory to various dishes.
Fruit compote is frequently made from combinations of figs, pears, apples, plums, berries and rhubarb. Compote recipes usually include other flavorings, such as vanilla, cinnamon, citrus peels and cloves. They are almost always served with chunky fruit in the mixture.
Simply put, it is a mixture of fruit cooked in sugar syrup. A more elaborate definition would be that compote is fresh or whole fruit slowly cooked in sugar syrup, which could contain liquor or spices and is served immediately.
Compotes are all-purpose serving dishes. These usually footed bowls -- with or without lids or covers -- held special desserts, fruits, candies or sauces, jellies and other foods. Blown or pressed glass compotes provided a culinary presentation method suitable to 19th-century middle-class households.
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