SC - Re: verjuice

[Elaine Koogler]

At 12:36 -0400 2001-04-02, Angie Malone wrote:
> If you need a substitute for verjuice, Barbara Santich in her book:
> Mediterranean cuisine:Medieval recipes for today recommends the following:
> 
> (page 47) The best alternative to verjuice is lemon juice, softened 
> with a dash of sweet grape juice or orange juice.
> 
> The last feast I did I was doing a chicken recipe with verjuice and I 
> used white grape juice with lemon juice to add the sour and I think 
> it worked pretty good.
> 
> I also remember reading on one of the websites that was selling 
> verjuice that they didn't recommend using vinegar to substitute for 
> verjuice, inferring that vinegar would be much more bludgeoning. 
> They sold 'specialty vinegar' as well so I don't think they were 
> trying more to sell you verjuice.  If I find the source I will post 
> it to the list.


Because fresh verjuice was very seasonal, some of the medieval 
cookbooks describe various substitutes or variations.

Generalising, almost any sour juice seems to have been used in 
period when verjuice was not available, or because someone 
preferred a different kind of sour taste.  In lands where verjuice 
grapes did not grow well, other verjuices were used.  In England 
crabapple verjuice seems to have been the most common.

As others have noted, lemon juice is _not_ a close flavour match, 
but it is the nearest thing that a modern cook is likely to have 
just kicking around, which is why it so often gets mentioned as a 
substitute.  Mixing it with white grape juice (unsweetened) would 
certainly be an improved match.

Wine is included in some of the period concocted substitutes, but 
as far as I recall vinegar is not mentioned in any of them (I'd be 
interested if anyone has a counter example).

In the recipes in Casteau's Overture de Cuisine (1604) the choice 
"white wine or verjuice" appears 6 times, "wine or verjuice" 4 times, 
and "vinegar or verjuice" once.  Verjuice on its own is mentioned 4
times.  This suggests that for Casteau wine (and specifically white
wine) was a frequent alternative.  He has limes and lemons available
for some of his recipes, but does not mention using them as verjuice 
substitutes.

In Viandier (circa 1390) verjuice is mentioned on its own most of
the time, and much more frequently than in Casteau.  The choice 
"must (grape juice) or verjuice" is given once.  In many recipes 
all three of wine and verjuice and vinegar are added, suggesting 
that to the palates of Taillevent's time they were not the same.



- -- 
All my best,
Thorvald Grimsson / James Prescott <prescotj at telusplanet.net> (PGP user)

"It is impossible to forsee the consequences of being clever,
so you try to avoid it whenever you can." Christopher Strachey