Ingredients

• 300 g rhubarb
• 1 liter water (I recommend mineral water)
• 4 tablespoons sugar + more to taste
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste (or 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar or sugar with real vanilla)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• also: additional sparkling water, 3 thin lemon or orange slices, mint and ice

Preparation

1. Wash the rhubarb, cut off the leaves and discard, cut the stalks into 1 cm pieces. Pour sugar into a pot and spread it on the bottom. Heat on medium heat for about 2-3 minutes or until it starts to brown.
2. Then add the rhubarb and mix. Initially, after adding the rhubarb the sugar will clump, but as the rhubarb releases juice, the lumpy sugar will start to dissolve. Fry like this for about 2-3 minutes.
3. Pour in water and bring to boil. Reduce heat, add vanilla and cook for about 2-3 minutes until the rhubarb softens. Finally add lemon juice. Remove for a few minutes, then strain through a sieve into a clean vessel or pitcher.
4. Add a few nicer, pink pieces of rhubarb to the compote, press the rest of the rhubarb through the sieve with a spoon to extract as much juice as possible into the compote. Taste the compote and sweeten more if needed. You can dilute it with sparkling mineral water.
5. On hot days I recommend trying a chilled version of the compote, served with an ice cube, a lemon slice and a mint leaf.