I was only served kompot once during my stay in Poland. We were in Nowe Wioska for a ceremony honoring American airmen in their area during World War II. Ed was asked to represent the U.S. government at the event. It was a moving experience, and you can read more about it in this post. Everyone in attendance was served a hearty lunch (obiad) after, and cherry kompot was on the tables. It was delicious.
You may be familiar with the dessert of stewed fruit known as compote, however, this kompot is a drink made from stewed fruits and popular in central and eastern Europe.
I think it’s fair to say that kompot has about half the sugar of soda, but it’s main selling point would be the very few and all natural ingredients. You know what’s in it, and that is a good thing. The other thing than makes this better for you is the Polish sense of portion control. We drank from little IKEA glasses, probably 8 ounces. There were no Big Gulps of kompot.
Kompot is something you can make year round. Make it in the summer to use up an abundance of inexpensive, fresh fruit. Make it in the winter with dried fruits. The possible combinations are endless and every batch will be a little different.
The basic proportions are a gallon of water, a cup of sugar, a pound to a pound and a half of fruit.
Enjoy!
Lois
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Kompot a Homemade Fruit Drink
- Category: Beverage
- Cuisine: Polish
Description
A healthy fruit drink
Ingredients
- 1 gallon water
- 1 cup sugar
- 10 dried apricots
- 1 apple, cored and sliced
- 6 ounces raspberries
- 6 ounces blueberries
Instructions
- Add the sugar to the water in a large pan
- Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves
- Add apricots and apple
- Simmer for 15 minutes
- Add berries
- Return to boil and remove from heat
- Cool
Notes
The next time I use blueberries, I will muddle them to allow more juice to escape while steeping.
An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com, she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.
Lorene Wedeking
We have this every day during the language camps at Reymontowka. I am glad to see a bit of a recipe for I didn’t know how much water, sugar, and fruit to use. Usually in summer it is strawberry. I am going again this year and will try for a picture of it as served there or ask if I can a recipe for the amount of water, sugar, and fruit. Reymontowka it is served what I would call l lukewarm.
polishhousewife
Ice is definately an American touch. Anything made with Polish strawberries would be fabulous!
Laura
What other fruit would taste good in thus
polishhousewife
My friend Gosia has recommended cherry and rhubarb. Apple and cranberry are a Christmas classic. Stone fruit and berry are most typical.
Janet Garman
I made a batch from pear peelings and blueberries. Delicious combination and beautiful color One cup of sugar and two table spoons of lemon juice I think it could have been less sugar but I was following a recipe.
polishhousewife
Sounds good, Janet; thanks!
Ava
We made kompot from cherries, strawberries, apples, pears, peaches, plums, raspberries, goosberries,practicly anything. For Christmas Eve prunes and dried apples kompot, a must have with all the traditional dishes that are made with cabbage and mushrooms 😉
★★★★★
Suzanne
The recipe does not specify but I imagine you strain the fruit pieces out before serving?
★★★★★
polishhousewife
Hi Suzanne, I did strain, but not meticulously. A piece fruit, almost as a garnish is fine if it suits you.
Ava
We just eat the fruit 🙂
★★★★★
Fran Valencic
Can’t wait to try these recipes.
★★★★★
polishhousewife
Thanks, Fran! 🙂
MaryAnn
Just wondered, if you have an old world recipe for kapusta aka cabbage soup! Thank you !
polishhousewife
Is something like this that you’re thinking about? https://polishhousewife.com/kapusniak-sauerkraut-soup/
Jessica Derkis
So glad to find this. I tried kompot in a lovely Russian bakery in San Francisco today and wondered how difficult it is to replicate.. and the fact that I can use whatever fruit I might have suits my cooking style to a “tea.”
polishhousewife
Be adventurous, Jessica!
Poland-Lover
Hey!
I love, love, love Kompot and all things Polish, and I’m thinking of making it for a cooking workshop. As I’m comparing recipes, no-one seems to really mention a cooking time. How long does this recipe usually take?
Thanks in advance!
Poland-Lover.
polishhousewife
For this recipe, I would say no more than 30 minutes.
Poland-Lover
Thanks 🙂 I’ll test it during a kluski-dinner with friends
Doris Frechette
i will make this looks yummy i have a question not pertaining to recipes maybe you can help me my uncles name is walter but we call him his polish name sounds like (Varjew) IS THIS HOW TO SPELL IT?
★★★★★
polishhousewife
Thank you, Doris. I’m afraid I can’t help with your uncle’s name, but maybe someone else will be able to.
Roman Obrycki
Walter is typically an anglicisation of the Polish Władysław (there are other spellings of the name in other central and eastern European languages: Vladislav, Ladislav, Ladislaus, Ładysław, etc. stemming from two words władca meaning ruler and sława meaning glory so it would refer to a person who was a “glorious ruler”, so to speak. Władziu is a a “endearment” form similar to Timmy being an endearment form of Tim or Timothy. I suspect this might explain what you may have heard only phonetically but never having seen it in written form. The best transliteration I could think of would be: Vwajew (close to your spelling).
Kris
Love this. Wondering how long you can keep this for? How would you store it. Or do you make it as needed?
polishhousewife
I keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days. Some Polish friends canned theirs for a longer shelf life, but I’m not sure of the details.
Greg Podgurski
I make Compote in Winter when I am feeling ill or poorly. It is a Great comfort drink. And very hydrating! I actually use much more sugar however… LOL
★★★★★
Sheila Grykowska
I’m surprised no one asked about alcohol. Can alcohol be added to Kim Pot?
polishhousewife
You could.