Compote Quotes

“I cast concerns away and instead wallow in the heady rosy-lavender-ish fragrance that is rising from the pan on the stove. Intense and intoxicating, it offers a pleasing foretaste as the dried apricots, chewy as toffee, and whole jet-black prunes carried back from Istanbul bob in the simmering sugary water.
This spoonable, fruity concoction is an attempt to feed the heart what it misses, and to bring some color to the table.”
― Caroline Eden, Cold Kitchen: A Year of Culinary Travels

“cardamom-laced hoşaf with apples and cherries (par-boiled and therefore more likely to float elegantly), bubbled in apple juice and freshened with a squeeze of lemon. A pink-hued quince variation with a little cinnamon. Simple prune, rich and dark. Apricot and orange blossom, with golden sultanas boiled with a spoonful of honey. Small, slightly unripe pears, peeled, then brought sweetly alive by heat and sugar. Whatever is in season or, in times of scarcity, dried fruit.”
― Caroline Eden, Cold Kitchen: A Year of Culinary Travels

“In Edinburgh, the hoşaf, taking its name from the Persian, meaning 'delightful water', because that is exactly what it is, bubbles on. Fruit plumping up and bobbing in the pan: the apricots like wrinkly-skinned cheeks, the prunes like black onyx gemstones.
I think about the simple magic of it. How by taking a handful of dried apricots and prunes, then adding sugar, water and heat--- and time, the most important ingredient of all--- it becomes glorious hoşaf.”
― Caroline Eden, Cold Kitchen: A Year of Culinary Travels