[Sca-cooks] Verjuice

[Terry Decker]

Verjuice is made from unripened fruit so the sugars which go into wine
making may not be present in the juice.  In addition, according to Redon,
verjuice was salted, which would further inhibit fermentation and act as a
preservative.

Bear


>Second question:  Do you let the juice ferment or use it straight.  One
>message said that she canned the liquid, keeping it in sealed containers.
>This strikes me as unlikely to have happened in period since I believe
>canning was developed in the 19th century.
>
>Third question:  One message mentioned that the writer had problems with
the
>product molding even when kept in the refrigerator.  I can see the juice
>being kept in jars in a cold room off the pantry or in the wine cellar, but
>if the stuff molds even in cool conditions, what did they do?  Did they
just
>skim off the mold and go from there, or maybe strain it into a new jar?
>    Since verjuice is called for in a number of recipes, I can't believe
>that they only used it during grape thinning season.  I suppose people who
>used crabapples could keep them to be crushed as needed, but not grapes.
>
>
>Regina Romsey