The New Fruit Cocktail: Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice : Compotes: The new-style fruit cocktail is like a cross between a relish and a fruit salad.

The generations that grew up on syrupy canned fruit cocktail, in which all the square bits of fruit tasted virtually the same, may not recognize this.

The New American Cuisine is modernizing the fruit cocktail into something that tastes of fresh fruit. The syrup is not too sweet; though called compotes, the dishes are made with raw or barely cooked fruit, making for a livelier texture. They may be spicy--sometimes they’re even called fruit salsas.

Hawaii was a natural place for this idea to take root, because of the abundance of tropical fruits. Here the local dialect of New American Cuisine is often called Hawaiian Regional Cuisine. Honolulu Advertiser features and food editor Wanda Adams, who calls ot HRC for short, describes it as based on combining “fresh local ingredients, classic cooking skills, curiosity and a respect for what’s here.”

Many of its newest stars, she notes ironically, are people who came from outside the Islands and weren’t bound to tired old Hawaiian ideas involving pineapple in entrees and little paper umbrellas.

Patrick Callarec, chef at the Ritz-Carlton here on the northwest coast of Maui and a recognized practitioner of HRC, definitely came outside--he is a native of Perigueux, France. From there he studied and worked in Nice, Cannes, Houston, Dallas and Marina Del Rey before coming to Maui.

Although he has interesting ideas in all kinds of cooking, it is fruit that has brought his work to the attention of local foodies. The chef’s playful compote combinations are eye-opening: Asian pears with thyme and lemon, mangoes with knotted vanilla beans, nectarines with sweet basil, pineapples with chile.

The idea of putting herbs and spices on fresh fruit isn’t really new, of course. In Southern France, fruit is often served with lavender-scented honey. In tropical Asia and Latin America, street vendors sprinkle peeled mangos with lime juice and red pepper.

All Callarec’s compotes are just barely cooked in simple syrup, making them less “jammy” or cloying than their old-fashioned sisters and far more like a light fruit salad.

The island of Maui is lengendarily bathed in balmy zephyrs, tropical sunshine and daily intense bursts of rain that last just a few minutes at a time. Fruit that grows here seems to have a particularly distinct flavor, but perhaps it just seems that way because of the vividness of their colors and the romance of the tropics. Callarec gets frequent deliveries of strawberry papaya, white pineapple, mangoes, soursop, jackfruit and Cuban red bananas from the Ono Organic Farm in Kipahulu on the other side of the island near Hana.

The chef also started his own herb garden behind the hotel when he arrived here from the Ritz-Carlton in Marina del Rey just one year ago. Today, the garden is bursting with plants like opal basil, thyme and mint. It seems only natural that Callarec would combine the two bountiful harvests of fruit and herbs.

“I don’t know how it came about,” he says sheepishly. “But I think my imagination must have been stimulated by having lavender with fruit when I grew up in France. I wanted to surprise people, to do something different.”

His compotes are delicate and aromatic. Herbs never overpower the taste of the fruit, but rather are laced in as secondary flavors. “You don’t need to overdo it,” he insists.

The recipes are simple and direct. Fresh ingredients supply plenty of taste and don’t require much work or embellishment. Herbs take away the edge of the sweetness, and the compote becomes very adult, just the thing for breakfast or brunch, sophisticated picnics, afternoon tea or alongside a cheese course.

Callarec has also experimented with dried fruit compotes using dried papayas, bananas, pineapple and mangoes bathed in a soup of Darjeeling tea.

His imagination has only begun to get going on the modern compote. When asked about how one would go about making one without refined sugar, he began to spin out a variety of new ideas, from cooking the fruit in wine instead of sugar water to cooking fruit in freshly squeezed fruit juices. How about, for example, peaches cooked in orange juice, with a tiny touch of star anise?

But these are untested concoctions. Callarec is inspired, and grabs a bouquet of herbs and heads off in the direction of the kitchen.

ASIAN PEARS WITH THYME AND LEMON COMPOTE

Juice and grated zest of 2 lemons (additional lemon juice, if needed)

Water

10 Asian pears

3 cups sugar

2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves

Combine lemon juice with equal amount water (about 1 cup) in non-reactive bowl. Core and cut pears into 1/2-inch dice. Place pears immediately in lemon water, making sure fruit is completely immersed. Add equal amounts of additional lemon juice and water if necessary to cover fruit. (Do not allow pears to become exposed to air, as they’ll turn brown.)

Pour 1 quart water in large saucepan and set over medium heat. Add sugar and thyme and cook, stirring, until liquid is clear, not cloudy. Add pears and bring just to boil. Add lemon zest.

Transfer to shallow, non-reactive pan. Cover and refrigerate immediately. Chill at least 3 hours. Serve chilled.

Makes 6 servings.

MANGOES WITH VANILLA COMPOTE

8 large mangoes, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch dice

4 vanilla beans

3 cups sugar

1 quart water

Place diced mangoes in bowl and set aside.

Cut vanilla beans in half lengthwise. Scrape out seeds and reserve seeds and pods. Combine sugar, water, vanilla bean pods and seeds in large saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Remove from heat.

Pour vanilla syrup over mangoes. Cover and chill 4 hours. Serve cold. For decorative touch, tie vanilla beans into a knot and place on top of compote.

Makes 6 servings.

NECTARINE AND SWEET BASIL COMPOTE

1 quart water

3 cups sugar

10 to 12 firm nectarines

1/2 cup julienned opal and green basil leaves

Combine water and sugar in medium saucepan and cook, stirring, over medium heat until liquid is clear. Pit fruit and cut in wedges. Add to saucepan over high heat and bring just to boil. Add basil. Cover and refrigerate immediately. Chill at least 3 hours. Serve chilled.

Makes 6 servings.

DRIED FRUIT COMPOTE IN DARJEELING TEA

4 cups 1/4-inch diced dried fruit, such as mango, papaya, apricot

3 cups strong Darjeeling tea

Grated zest of 2 lemons

Place dried fruit in medium mixing bowl.

Pour tea into large saucepan and bring to near boil over high heat. Pour over fruit mixture and let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Add lemon zest. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours. Serve chilled.

Makes 6 servings.

PINEAPPLE AND CHILE COMPOTE 1 1/2 cups sugar

2 cups water

1 tablespoon Asian chile paste (available in Asian markets)

1 large ripe pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Combine sugar, water and chile paste in large saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved, about 8 minutes.

Add pineapple cubes and bring to boil. Transform to bowl. Cover and refrigerate immediately.

Chill at least 3 hours. Serve chilled.

Makes 6 servings.