No. 3691

Stewed Peaches or Apricots

Compote de Peches ou d'Abricots

Select very fine, sound, ripe peaches or apricots, cut them in two, peel and lay them in a twenty-eight degree boiling syrup; leave to quiver for a few moments on the side of the range, remove from the fire and put them into a tureen, leaving to cool in their own syrup; drain and dress on a compote dish, pouring the syrup over.

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For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer assumes a pastry cook's equipment and vocabulary: a syrup measured on the Baumé scale and a fruit poached so gently it never quite boils. Both are easy to reproduce once translated.

What "twenty-eight degree" meansThat is degrees Baumé, read with a saccharometer, and it describes a heavy syrup of roughly 1.24 specific gravity — a little over half sugar by weight. Approximately 3 cups granulated sugar dissolved in 2 cups water, brought to a boil, lands close enough.
"Leave to quiver"This is frémir: the surface trembles, with no rolling boil. Drawing the pan to the cool side of the range is the 19th-century way of holding a bare simmer, around 180–190F. A full boil breaks halved peaches into shreds.
Timing"A few moments" means it. Ripe peach or apricot halves need 2 to 5 minutes at a quiver; they finish cooking as they cool in the syrup. Test with a knife tip at the thickest point — it should meet slight resistance, not slide through.
PeelingScore and blanch peaches 30 to 60 seconds in boiling water, then shock in ice water and slip the skins. Ranhofer says to peel the fruit; modern cooks often leave ripe apricots unpeeled, since the thin skin helps hold the halves together.
Compote dishA footed, shallow glass or silver bowl. Any wide serving bowl works.
This is not a preserveDespite the chapter it sits in, nothing here is sealed or processed for storage. Refrigerate and serve within three or four days.
Yield and servingThe recipe gives no quantities; about 6 peaches, roughly 2 lb of fruit, serves four to six. Serve cool rather than ice cold, and reduce the drained syrup by a few minutes' boiling if it has thinned with fruit juice.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of what he cooked at Delmonico's in New York, and its Preserves and Conserves chapter runs on the same French pastry-kitchen logic as the rest of the book — hence a syrup specified by hydrometer reading rather than by cups. A compote is distinguished from a confiture by intent: the fruit is poached in syrup to be eaten within a day or two, its shape intact, while a confiture is cooked down to keep. The Baumé scale, named for the French chemist Antoine Baumé, was a standard tool for sugar work in professional kitchens well into the 20th century, and a graduated series of degrees — lighter syrups for soaking a savarin, around 28 for compotes and glazed fruit, higher still for candying — let a chef specify concentration precisely.