What drinks will be on your table for the Christmas holidays? No need to buy sweet soda, set aside store juices and much less alcohol! And better write down the recipe of the traditional drink, which has long been prepared for the Holy Day before Christmas and for the Christmas table - Christmas otkvar.
This tasty and healthy drink is called Uzvar - from the word “brew”: in order to preserve a maximum of vitamins in dried fruits and berries, on the basis of which Christmas uzvar is being prepared, they were often not boiled, as in compote, but brewed with boiling water and insisted, like tea.
And if you explore the history of the word even further, then you will find out that it is based on the Slavic word “brew”, as it used to be called vegetable, berry decoction, compote, jelly or healing herbal infusion. In a modern way, the old word began to sound much more common - as “decoction,” having lost some of its mysterious charm. However, no matter how the dried fruit drink is called, it keeps the strength and energy of summer, sun and nature! Let's learn how to cook a real delicious Christmas uzvar! After all, compote of dried fruits, along with wheat couture, are the two most important dishes of the Christmas table.
Ingredients for Christmas Party
To 2-3 liters of water:
- 200-250 g of dried fruit;
- honey or sugar - to taste.
Dried fruits can be any, but the richer their set, the tastier the uzvar: dried apples, pears, cherries, wild rose will add to the common bouquet each its own flavor and aroma!
Cooking Method Christmas Uzvar
To prepare a jar, it is better to take water not from the tap, but stand up, filtered or artesian: the more tasty and purer the water, the better and healthier the drink.
We rinse the dried fruits with running water in a colander, put them in an enameled pan and fill them with water for 2-3 hours, or at night. Some housewives pour fruit with cold water, while others - with warm, boiled water. Having grasped, dried fruits and berries will give away their taste and aroma more easily, and delicious compote will be obtained without long boiling.
Put the saucepan on medium heat and bring to a boil under the lid. Let compote slowly simmer for 4-5 minutes on a small light. If you want to add sugar - put it after half of this time, stir it, and after a couple of minutes you can turn it off - uzvar is ready. There will be more benefit in the uzvare with honey - only honey needs to be added not to boiling, hot, but to already prepared, warm compote.
We'll leave the finished Christmas uzvar to brew and cool under the lid, and then pour it into a transparent jug or glasses: see what a beautiful amber-honey color! This sunny summer in a jug, pleasing the soul with a premonition of warm days and fruit flavors in the middle of winter.
Fragrant, vitamin compote of dried fruit, pleasant to the taste, suitable for children and adults, and you can cook uzvar not only at Christmas, but throughout the year. This is a great soft drink that quenches thirst in summer better than any lemonade, and in winter recharges the body with vitamins.
Merry Christmas!
