Компот

by Don  

This morning I was reading about the Korean drink hwachae and realized “Hey, this is basically the same thing as компот!”

What is компот? It is a beverage made, essentially, by boiling fruit in water with some sugar and then letting the liquid cool down. You can make компот out of all sorts of fruit, fresh or dried. When you put a pitcher of it on the table, you leave the marvelous chunks of fruit in, not straining it out. The Grandma's Advice website lists the following versions:

  • Компот из свежих яблок или груш
  • Компот из свежих абрикосов или слив
  • Компот из свежих персиков
  • Компот из свежих яблок и вишни
  • Компот из свежих яблок и мандаринов
  • Компот из айвы
  • Компот из быстрозамороженных фруктов и ягод
  • Компот из смеси сушеных фруктов
  • Компот из чернослива
  • Компот из чернослива, изюма, кураги
  • Fresh apple or pear compote
  • Fresh apricot or plum compote
  • Fresh peach compote
  • Fresh apple and cherry compote
  • Fresh apple and mandarin compote
  • Quince compote
  • Quick-frozen fruit and berry compote
  • Compote made with a mixture of dried fruit
  • Plum compote
  • Plum, raisin and dried apricot compote

It's a great summer drink of course, but the Russians will drink it in winter, too. Here are some sample sentences:

Ещё компот, пожалуйста. More compote, please.
Мама налила всем компот и поставила на стол тарелку с печеньем. Mom poured compote for everybody and set a plate of cookies on the table.
— Очень вкусный компот!
— Да, в нём и яблоки и груши.
“Very tasty compote!”
“Yes, it has both apples and pears in it.”
— Какой это компот?
— Компот из айвы.
— Я даже не знаю, что такое айва.
“What kind of compote is this?”
“Compote made from quinces.”
“I don't even know what a quince is.”

2 comments

Comment from: Shady_arc [Visitor]

Ещё компот, пожалуйста. –> Sounds as an order in a canteen ("One more compote, please"). Usually it is in Genitive ("ещё компота") when referred to as a substance rather than a single glass bought somewhere.

10/07/10 @ 02:35
Comment from: Andrey [Visitor]

The word form changes just like with сок: “еще компота", “налила всем компота", it’s possible to use “еще компоту", “налила компоту", although it’s kind of old-fashioned.

10/07/10 @ 00:55


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