Uzvar is an ancient recipe for a drink made from dried fruits and its healing properties. Uzvar: what is it and how to prepare it correctly? Apple soup made from fresh apples

For a long time, uzvar, made from dried fruits, was exclusively part of the Christmas table. Today it can be made or bought at any time of the year. Moreover, in the summer it is healthier to drink this particular drink instead of compote or tea. It restores the water-salt balance faster, which is important in hot and sunny weather.

Benefits of the drink

The name of the drink comes from the word “brew”, because it needs to be prepared by infusing, not boiling.

It is based on dried fruits. They must be carefully selected. During an external inspection, it is necessary to exclude a product that has traces of rot, plaque and large creases. Not everyone has dried fruits that are prepared by themselves or by close relatives. It is better to buy individual berries and fruits in stores rather than mixtures. If possible, you should check with the seller whether fine salt was used during drying. In recent years, it has been used to normalize the humidity level at.

Uzvar should contain apples, pears, raisins, dried apricots or apricots. Additionally, you can use cherries, rose hips or hawthorn. Dried they contain more microelements than fresh.

The main beneficial properties of uzvar:

improvement of intestinal function;
relieving inflammation in internal organs;
normalization of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems;
increasing immunity;
removal of salts and toxins from the body;
improvement of brain activity.

All these properties are associated with the presence of large amounts of A, B, C, microelements and fiber in dried fruits. Apples can traditionally cause increased gas formation. Therefore, for people who have a tendency to painful flatulence, it is better to reduce their quantity or volume of drink consumed.

When consumed regularly, compote helps increase hemoglobin, so it is also indicated for pregnant women prone to anemia.

Preparing uzvar: features of the process

How to cook uzvar of dried fruits? The recipe is not that complicated. The taste and properties of compote directly depend on what ingredients are included in it. The inclusion of hawthorn makes a difference, such as adding heart-healthy substances. The uzvar must include raisins and dried apricots.

In order to prepare a delicious drink, you need:

50 g of dried fruits of different types and 80 g of pears and apples;
honey – 3 tablespoons;
water – 2 l.;
lemon - slice.

Honey should not be included in the composition if there is a possibility of an allergic reaction. You can replace it with orange zest.

You should first wash the dried fruits that will be used in the drink. For those who prefer to consume dried fruits themselves, you need to soak them for 2-3 hours before cooking.

The process will then look like this:

bring water to a boil;
put dried fruits in a separate pan;
pour boiling water over them;
add honey, sugar to taste and lemon;
let it brew for 2 hours.

You can drink the drink immediately after cooling, but its taste and color will be less intense.

If you want to speed up the cooking process, you can place dried fruits in cold water. Bring everything to a boil, then immediately remove from heat and leave the pan covered. After the drink has cooled, add lemon and honey. Uzvar created according to this recipe retains fewer nutrients, but is more familiar to housewives.

Grandma's recipes

Knowing the intricacies of preparing uzvar in the old days, you can make the same drink with different tastes. The best thing is to leave it for 2 days. It should be in a cool place so that it does not ferment.

You can make the drink healthier if you add dried bananas or dates instead of sugar. If you want to prepare uzvar according to an old recipe, then apples and pears must first be soaked and cooked first. When the water almost boils, add more delicate dried fruits - raisins and dried apricots.

The tart taste of uzvar is suitable for relieving toxicosis during pregnancy. To do this, just prepare a drink with a handful of rose hips.

You can increase your tone in case of overwork or low blood pressure by including uzvar or. For those who do not like the intense smell of these components, it is enough to lower them in a strainer into the finished drink for 10–15 minutes.

There are no restrictions on the volume of use. Therefore, you can safely prepare uzvar for several days in advance and drink it as the desire arises. This will bring benefits and energy to the body!

The Russian writer Ivan Sergeevich Shmelev, who subtly and touchingly described the Orthodox traditions of the Russian people in his prose, paid a lot of attention to traditional holiday dishes. Thus, in the story “The Summer of the Lord” there is a story about the dishes that were prepared for the Christmas table. One of these dishes was uzvar (brew) - a drink that, as Shmelev writes, was prepared on Christmas Eve from prunes, pears and sheptala (dried peaches) and placed under icons - as if as a gift to Christ. Uzvar, along with kutya, was one of the ritual Christmas dishes, which has survived to this day.

In the old days, uzvar was constantly present on the tables of Russian people. It was a non-alcoholic drink (or rather a dessert) made from fresh and dried fruits, berries, and herbs. The consistency of the uzvar resembled jelly. To thicken it, starch or grain starter (wheat or oatmeal) was added. On holidays, wine or fruit and berry liqueurs were an additional ingredient.

A variation of this traditional dessert drink was berry and fruit sauces for meat dishes. Vegetables (onions, cabbage), vinegar, and honey were also added to such uzvars.

Uzvars, prepared with a variety of herbs with the addition of honey, were also used as a medicine for colds or stomach disorders.

In addition to uzvars, popular drinks on the festive table have always been kvass, mead (a low-alcohol drink based on honey) and sbiten.

What do people drink at Christmas in different countries?

Today, many countries have their own traditional Christmas drink. In Latin America, the USA and Canada, hot creamy drinks are prepared, such as eggnog (from milk, eggs, sugar with the addition of strong alcohol).

In many European countries, the traditional Christmas drink is hot wine with the addition of various spices (mulled wine or glogg). There are a great many recipes for such a drink, and they differ from each other in the set and quantity of spices.

The Christmas drink in England is hot cider based on ale (the English name Wassail means “Be healthy!”).

In warm countries, where there is no need for hot, warming drinks, they prefer fresh cocktails from local types of alcohol with the addition of fruits and flower petals.

Uzvar in modern Russian cuisine

Today, due to the abundance of various drinks and desserts on our tables, uzvars have practically sunk into oblivion. At the moment, most housewives not only do not prepare this dish, but perhaps do not even know its name. However, uzvars are still present in the church environment and constantly appear on tables as a ritual dish along with kutya and sochivo. Traditionally, uzvar is prepared on the eve of holidays and during Lent as a Lenten dessert.

It must be said that thanks to its wonderful taste and health properties, uzvars may well return to modern gastronomic reality, like many traditional Russian dishes. Uzvars are nutritious, rich in vitamins and fully comply with the principles of a healthy diet. Here are some simple recipes for preparing uzvar.

Recipe for uzvar with apples

Uzvar can be prepared from both dry and fresh apples. For 3 liters of water you will need 500 g of fresh apples. It is necessary to thoroughly wash the fruits and cut them into thin slices, removing the core. Then pour boiling water over the chopped apples, add spices (mint, cinnamon, cloves, etc.), cover with a lid and leave for 4-5 hours. The apple soup is ready.

Dried fruit uzvar recipe

To prepare uzvar from dried fruits, take 400-500 g of various dried fruits (dried apricots, raisins, figs, dried oranges, apples, pears), half a glass of sugar, a tablespoon of starch or oatmeal, a liter of water.

First, you need to thoroughly rinse the dried fruit mixture, clear it of debris and separate the dried apples and pears from the rest of the fruit. First of all, fill the apples and pears with water (since they take the longest to cook), add sugar and put the pan on the fire. Cook for 20 minutes, then add the remaining ingredients (raisins, dried apricots, prunes, figs, dried cherries, etc.) and cook for another 5 minutes. Next, dilute the starch (or flour) in cold water, pour it into the pan and bring to a boil. At the end, add spices as desired (cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, star anise, etc.).

The finished dried fruit uzvar must be cooled and served cold.

Recipe for uzvar with rose hips

Rosehip, or wild rose, is a rich source of vitamin C, so rosehip drinks are a very effective remedy for strengthening the immune system and treating colds.

To prepare uzvar you will need 40-50 dried rose hips, a liter of water, 2 tablespoons of honey and half a glass of sugar.

We thoroughly wash the rose hips and place them in boiling water. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then remove from heat and let the uzvar brew under a closed lid for about half an hour. After this, add honey and sugar. (If desired, sugar can be completely replaced with natural honey). Honey should only be added to a cooled drink to preserve all its beneficial properties.

First, wash the apples under water and dry them. Cut them in half. We remove the core, which we do not throw away.
Then cut each half into three more pieces and place them in the pan.
Fill the slices with cold, clean water. In the meantime, the core of the apples needs to be boiled and then the resulting broth should be poured into a saucepan with apples.
Sprinkle everything with sugar and cook over low heat for 15-20 minutes.

For a bold flavor, add a couple of cinnamon sticks before you start cooking it. The finished uzvar can be drunk either warm or cold by keeping it in the refrigerator. And your kids will wonderfully eat the remaining fruit for dessert!

Be sure to prepare this delicious drink so that in winter, when there is snow and cold outside, you can delight yourself and your family with culinary summer notes on the kitchen table. This compote will go perfectly with a variety of desserts: cakes, pancakes, pies, cookies, biscuits and many others. It will also take its rightful place on the holiday table, regardless of what exactly you are celebrating: the birthday of someone close, New Year or any other holiday. And if there are also guests present at it, and not just members of your family, then they will probably be interested in how you managed to prepare such a wonderful apple soup, admiring the taste of the drink.