[Sca-cooks] Query about verjus...urgent!!

[Elaine Koogler]

So the original reference seems to be more to sorrel be used as an additive
to the verjuice? And possibly by extension maybe green wheat?  Wouldn't that
change the flavor substantially.  I can't imagine green wheat by itself
having an acidic enough.  I know when grain (rice) is added to tea it has
the effect of softening the green tea taste (gen maicha),  So I would
suspect that adding green wheat to verjuice would have the effect of
softening the acidic taste.  I'm not familiar with the taste of sorrel but
suspect it would be similar.

I also suspect that, though things like this may have been done in period,
they are not common practice today.  If I purchase verjuice, at least 99% of
it is probably made from green grapes...the remaining being possibly made
with crab apples.

So am I close to being accurate or have I missed something?

Kiri

On Mon, Dec 6, 2010 at 12:01 PM, Gretchen Beck <grm at andrew.cmu.edu> wrote:

>
>
> --On Monday, December 06, 2010 11:57 AM -0500 "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus
> Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net> wrote:
>
>
>> On Dec 6, 2010, at 11:25 AM, Elaine Koogler wrote:
>>
>>  Hi folks,
>>> Got a question:  has anyone ever heard of verjus being either made out
>>> of, or containing green wheat?  I can't find any references to it but my
>>> knowledge, resources and experience may be limited!
>>>
>>> If you could respond right away, I'd be grateful!!
>>>
>>> Kiri
>>>
>>
>> Verjuice very definitely can be made from crabapples (see Markham's
>> recipe), and I remember reading some reference to green wheat, but don't
>> remember where. Of course, this could be one of those things where a
>> scribal, textual, or translator's error is made and repeated over the
>> centuries...
>>
>
> Looks like an original "green wheat" thread can be found from 1998 in
> Stefan's Florelegium:
>
> Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 16:12:35 -0800
> From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
> Subject: SC - Verjuice, thyme, and hyssop (was: Spice cabinet...)
>
> Adamantius wrote, commenting on someone else's post:
>
>> Your theory about the role of sorrel verjuice is pretty interesting.
>> Remember the quote from Taillevent I posted, in which he says you'll
>> need green wheat in winter? Green wheat is another of the items from
>> which verjuice could be made. I wonder if grapes supplied verjuice for
>> late summer through the beginning of winter, green wheat in winter and
>> early spring, and sorrel in the spring and early summer...
>>
>
> from Menagier de Paris:
> "SORREL VERJUICE. Grind the sorrel very fine without the twigs, and soak in
> old, white verjuice, and do not strain the sorrel, but let it be finely
> ground; or thus: grind parsley and sorrel or wheat-leaves. Item vine buds,
> that is those that are young and tender, without any sticks."
>
> So he is making sorrel verjuice from sorrel and verjuice, with variants
> using parsley or wheat leaves (and maybe vine buds) along with the sorrel.
> And later: "Note, that in July the old verjuice is too weak and the new
> verjuice is too green: and for this reason, at grape-harvest, verjuice
> which is mixed half old and half new is best. " Evidently he is expecting
> his grape verjuice to last the year round.
>
> Elizabeth/Betty Cook
>
>
>
> toodles, margaret
>
>
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