Verjuice
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Verjuice (from French verjus "green juice") is a very acidic juice made by pressing unripe grapes or crab apples. Sometimes lemon or sorrel juice, herbs or spices are added to change the flavour. In the Middle Ages, it was widely used in French cuisine as an ingredient in sauces, as a condiment, or to deglaze preparations.
It was once used in many contexts where modern cooks would use either wine or some variety of vinegar, but has become much less widely used as wines and variously flavoured vinegars are more accessible nowadays. Nonetheless, it is still used in a number of French dishes as well as recipes from other European and Middle Eastern cuisines, and can be purchased at some gourmet grocery stores.
Modern cooks most often use verjuice in salad dressings as the acidic ingredient, when wine is going to be served with the salad. This is because verjuice provides a comparable sour taste component, yet without "competing with" (altering the taste of) the wine the way, e.g., vinegar or lemon juice would.
In The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from France and Italy, the authors claim that the grape seeds preserved in salts were also called verjus during the Middle Ages.
[edit] References
- Verjuice in Larousse Gastronomique, US edition. ISBN 0-517-57032-7
- The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from France and Italy, by Odile Redon, Francoise Sabban and Silvano Serventi, University Of Chicago Press, 2000. ISBN 0-226-70684-2 (hardcover); ISBN 0-226-70685-0 (paperback)
