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

[Pixel, Goddess and Queen]

Sorrel has a green, "lemony" flavor--it's very tart, due to the high 
oxalic acid content.

Margaret FitzWilliam

On Mon, 6 Dec 2010, Elaine Koogler wrote:

> 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
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Sca-cooks mailing list
>> Sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
>> http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/sca-cooks-ansteorra.org
>>
>
>
>
> -- 
> "It is only with the heart that one can see clearly; what is essential is
> invisible to the eye."
> --Antoine de Saint-Exup?ry, The Little Prince
> _______________________________________________
> Sca-cooks mailing list
> Sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
> http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/sca-cooks-ansteorra.org
>