Gathering Cocoanuts

What survives here is the tail end of a procedure — the poaching and syruping of fruit — with the ingredient list and opening lines lost. It is workable as a method, but not as a recipe with quantities.

• Read it as a method, not a formulaNo amounts, no fruit named, no pan size, no heat level. Treat it as a plain way of stewing fruit in a little water and finishing it in its own reduced syrup, and supply the proportions yourself.
• "Cooking-vessel"Period shorthand for whatever saucepan or stewpan is in hand. For fruit and citrus juice, use stainless steel or enamelled cast iron; untinned copper and bare aluminium react with acid and can dull both flavour and colour.
• The citrus is structural, not decorativeThe few drops of lemon, lime or orange juice lower the pH, which helps the fruit hold its shape rather than collapsing, and keeps pale flesh from browning. Add it while the fruit cooks, as directed, not at the end.
• "A few minutes"For soft fruit that means two to four minutes at a bare simmer; firmer fruit such as pears or under-ripe pineapple may want ten to fifteen. Judge by a knife tip sliding in with slight resistance, since the fruit continues to soften as it cools in syrup.
• Lift the fruit before reducingThe instruction to remove the fruit first is the hinge. Boiling sugar syrup down with the fruit still in it overcooks it to mush; the fruit should sit aside and be re-dressed once the syrup has thickened.
• How far to reduce"Simmer until the syrup is thickened" means a light coating syrup -- in practice, reduce until it slides slowly off a spoon. It will thicken further as it cools, so stop short of anything that pulls a thread.
• ServingServed cold, as stated. A compote made this way keeps three or four days covered in the refrigerator, and the syrup thickens noticeably overnight.