Definition: verjus 1

Today, verjus refers to the juice of green grapes picked before they are ripe, in July, during the green harvest. It can also come from late-ripening bunches growing on the upper part of the vines, which are so acidic that even starlings won't eat them. Winegrowers rightly fight to prevent harvesters from picking verjus, conscrits or agrêts, as they are called depending on the region.

Unlike vinegar and lemon, the use of verjus in gastronomy makes food and wine pairings much easier. Thanks to its acetic acid-free acidity (contained in vinegar), verjus can be used to dress salads, deglaze meat and in sauces and marinades, without altering the pairing with wines. Today, it is found in certain mustards, where it is used to dilute.

Le Ménagier de Paris gives a recipe for sorrel verjus:

Crush the sorrel well, removing the stems, and mix it with old white verjus; do not strain it, but make sure it is well crushed. Le Ménagier de Paris recommends buying sorrel verjus from the sauce maker, along with cameline sauce and mustard!

In the Middle Ages, pasteurisation was not yet known. Pressed grape juice did not keep for very long. To preserve it for one to two years, it was recommended to salt it: "The most common way to make verjuice in the country is to pick the green bunches of grapes from the vines, or unripe grapes found in the vineyards after the harvest, then crush them and press the juice in a press, as with ripe grapes. Put the juice from these bunches into barrels and salt it immediately after it has released all its foam by boiling, as with must." (Charles Estienne and Jean Liébault, L'Agriculture et Maison rustique, 1572, in an article by Jean Louis Flandrin).

Verjuice is an essential ingredient in medieval cuisine and dietetics: known for its cooling properties, it soothes heartburn. Like vinegar, it is often combined with spices, which are classified as hot.

Verjus is generally associated with summer (the production period when verjus is still young) and delicate poultry, while vinegar is recommended in winter, with beef, which is coarser.

Verjus, like vinegar, has an acidic flavour known to open the body's channels to digested food, according to Jean Louis Flandrin.

The French taste for acidic flavours was important in the^14th century, then declined, and has now virtually disappeared.

Jean Louis Flandrin calculated that verjus is present in 42% of the recipes in the Bibliothèque Nationale's edition of Taillevent's Viandier. It is found in only 35% of the recipes in the printed edition of the Viandier at the end^{of the 15th} century. In^{the 16th} century, verjus is still present in 33% of the recipes in the Livre fort excellent de cuisine. In^{the 17th century}, only 13% of the recipes in Le Cuisinier français included verjus, which was increasingly being replaced by bitter orange juice or lemon juice.

In medieval times, verjus was European. It was called agras in Catalan in the Libro de Sent Sovi, agresta in Latin in the Liber de Coquina and the Tractatus demodo, agresto in Italian by Maestro Martino, verjons in English in the Forme of cury, and agraz in German in Ein Buch von guter Speise.

Verjuice was also known and used in Arab-Persian cuisine (called gur in Persian) and Arab-Andalusian cuisine (hisrim in Arabic).

Here is an old recipe for verjus (1811):

Pick the grapes as late as possible, press them to extract the juice, which is then boiled in a saucepan for 30 minutes after filtering. Skim well and leave to rest in a cool place, away from light (in the cellar). This verjus will replace or complement vinegar, lemon or wine, adding an extra layer of fruity acidity. Verjus is particularly interesting when paired with butter or oysters, subtly enhancing the flavour of a dish.

There are several definitions for this word, all of which have a connotation of very acidic grapes: a variety of grape with long, large berries and a thick, hard skin that is not suitable for making wine; verjus with brandy; candied verjus.

In 2003, who has ever tasted verjus? It is being rediscovered thanks to certain recipes such as duck breast with verjus or foie gras with verjus. A few producers in Charentes, Périgord and Burgundy offer it through private channels or in delicatessens. We even found a Spanish producer in Navarre and an American producer in Napa Valley.

Verjus, like hypocras, deserves to be rediscovered. Admittedly, today's pasteurised verjus may not have the same flavour as medieval verjus. It is probably less acidic and less bitter, but more fruity thanks to preservation techniques, and it offers a very interesting alternative to vinegar in salads or for deglazing meat. Sweeter and more fragrant than vinegar, verjus has flavours somewhere between cider vinegar and lemon juice. You have to taste it to understand.

Verjus recipes

Le Ménagier de Paris offers seven variations of improvised soup in Old French, for lean days and for fat days. Three recipes include verjus. Here is the second:

Souppedespourveue

Aliter, a jourde char. Take some chaudeau from the char and soak bread or lean bread in the water from the char, then grind, and add eggs; then strain and put in a pot with fat water, spices, verjus, vinegar, and saffron. Bring to a boil, then serve in bowls. (Le Ménagier de Paris, II,v: Clear soups without spices, 57).

Improvised soup

Alternatively, for a rich day. Take some meat broth and soak bread in the lean part of the broth, then grind and add 6 eggs; then strain through a cheesecloth and place in a pot with rich broth, spices, verjuice, vinegar and saffron. Bring to the boil and serve in bowls.

Verjus soup

According to Souppedespourveue (Improvised Soup), Ménagier de Paris, 1393.

Ingredients (1 tsp = level teaspoon)

broth (1 kg)

vinegar (1 tablespoon)

verjus (3 tablespoons)

2 eggs

80 g breadcrumbs

1/10 teaspoon ginger

1/10 teaspoon nutmeg

1/10 teaspoon saffron

1 pinch of cloves

3 g salt

Recipe (cooking time = 5 mins)

Heat the stock. Beat the eggs. Remove from the heat and whisk into the hot stock. Add the breadcrumbs, then the spices mixed with the verjuice and vinegar.

Cook for a few minutes, stirring, and serve.

Notes:

Be careful when choosing the stock: do not use shop-bought stock, which is already flavoured!

Make beef or chicken stock: meat + water + leek, carrot, onion. Chicken-in-a-pot stock is excellent.

To keep the idea of "impromptu" soup, freeze some stock so you have it on hand.

Le Ménagier de Paris does not specify which spices to use, except for saffron.

Chicken in wine and verjuice flavoured with cinnamon and ginger, according to Hochepot de Poulaille, Viandier de Taillevent, circa 1380.

Ingredients (1 tsp = level teaspoon)

1 free-range chicken (2.9 kg)

120 g fresh liver

70 g lard or oil

300 g toasted country bread

800 g wine

800 g beef stock

400 g verjuice

3 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons ginger

1/2 teaspoon of cardamom

5 g salt.

Recipe (cooking time = 1 hour 15 minutes)

Cut the chicken into pieces (keep the liver) and brown in lard or oil. Remove excess fat.

Blend the bread in a food processor with the liver, wine and stock. Mix with the chicken, season with salt and simmer for 1 hour.

Then add the spices (ginger, cinnamon, demaniguette), crushed and mixed with a spoonful of verjuice, and the rest of the verjuice. Finish cooking (15 minutes).

Note:

You can use a goose or 2 ducks instead of 2 chickens, adjusting the proportions. To begin: roast in the oven, or brown and remove the fat.

Jbouchut © 2003-2005.

Expressions:

Verjus sauce; verjuter a sauce. Do you like verjus, we've put it everywhere? (Boileau). "It's just verjus" is said when referring to a wine that is too green, a bad wine. Fam.: "To have a character as sour as verjus". To have a very cantankerous character. We also say "she is sour like verjus". Prov. and fig. "To put someone on the verjus pile", to make them suffer through slander. "It's green juice or verjus" is said of two things between which there is no noticeable difference, and the choice between which is indifferent (see also grappillage).

See also the entry Verjus in the Encyclopaedia of Vines, Wines and Spirits, with other recipes...