Kompot

Kompot

Traditional Bulgarian kompot
Alternative names	Compot
Type	Drink
Place of origin	Eastern, Northern, Central and Southern Europe
Serving temperature	Cold, Hot, or Room Temperature
Main ingredients	Fruit
Variations	Uzvar

Kompot is a non-alcoholic sweet beverage, that may be served hot or cold, depending on tradition and season. It is obtained by cooking fruit such as strawberries, apricots, peaches, apples, rhubarb, gooseberries, or sour cherries in a large volume of water, often together with sugar or raisins as additional sweeteners. Sometimes different spices such as vanilla or cinnamon are added for additional flavor, especially in winter when kompot is usually served hot.

Kompot is part of the culinary cultures of many countries in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe such as Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovakia, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkey, Austria and Romania, (where it is known as compot). Kompot ("компот" in Macedonian, Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian and Ukrainian) was a widely used way of preserving fruit for the winter season in Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina and possibly other Balkan countries. In 1885, Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa wrote in a recipe book that kompot preserved fruit so well it seemed fresh. Kompot was still popular in the 1970s. It is still popular in many Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Dozens of recipes may be found in the Polish recipe book, Kuchnia Polska.