Uzvar (узвар, dried-fruit drink)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •A large 4 to 5 litre pot with a lid
• •A fine sieve or ladle
• •A glass jug or enamel pitcher

Instructions

1. 1

   Rinse the fruit

   Put the dried apples, pears, prunes, apricots if using, and raisins in a bowl and rinse them quickly under cool water. You're not washing away flavor, only dust from drying and storage. If the fruit feels very hard, let it sit in fresh cold water while you find the big pot.

2. 2

   Start cold

   Put the fruit into a large pot with 3 litres cold water. Starting cold matters because the fruit has time to swell and give itself to the water before the heat tightens it. Add the lemon peel and cinnamon if you want them, but keep a light hand; uzvar should taste first of orchard, not spice cupboard.

3. 3

   Bring to murmur

   Bring the pot slowly up until you hear the first soft movement, then lower the heat at once. It should murmur at the edges, not roll. Let it cook gently until the smell changes from plain dried fruit to something rounder and darker, with the pear smoke and prune sweetness coming forward.

   Do not boil it hard. A rough boil clouds the drink and makes the fruit taste spent. Gentle heat gives you clean amber.
4. 4

   Steep off heat

   Turn off the heat, cover the pot, and leave it alone for at least four hours, or overnight if Christmas cooking has already taken over your kitchen. This is where the uzvar deepens. The fruit sinks, the liquid clears, and the color settles into dark honey.

5. 5

   Sweeten with honey

   When the uzvar is warm rather than hot, stir in honey to taste. Start with three tablespoons, then listen to your mouth. It should be gently sweet, not sticky, with a little tannin from the pears and a dark edge from the prunes.

   Honey goes in after the heat so its flower smell stays bright. Boil it and you lose the best part.
6. 6

   Serve and keep

   Strain if you want a clear jug, or serve it with a few swollen pieces of fruit in each glass. Warm is beautiful on Christmas Eve; chilled the next day is sharper and very good with leftovers. Keep it in the fridge and drink within four days.

Chef Tips

• •Smoked dried pears make the deepest uzvar. If you can't find them, use unsmoked dried pears and add a few extra prunes; it will be a bit more modern, still welcome at the table.
• •Avoid dried fruit with heavy sulphur smell if you can. It gives the drink a sharp yellow note instead of that clean amber orchard taste.
• •The steeping forgives you. The hard boil does not. Once the pot reaches a murmur, turn it down and let time do the work.
• •Save the cooked fruit. Eat it with spoonfuls of thick yogurt, fold it into porridge, or tuck it beside kutia where it belongs.

Advance Preparation

• •Uzvar is best made the day before serving, then left to steep overnight so the fruit fully opens into the water.
• •It keeps for up to 4 days in the fridge. Sweeten lightly at first, because the fruit keeps giving sweetness as it sits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 250g)