View source for Verjuice

{{Short description|Type of juice}}
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{{Use American English|date=November 2024}}
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[[Image:Fabrication du verjus BnF Latin 9333 fol. 83.jpg|thumb|250px|Picking green grapes for making verjuice. ''[[Tacuinum Sanitatis]]'' (1474). Paris, [[Bibliothèque nationale de France|Bibliothèque nationale]].]]
'''Verjuice''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|v|ɜr|ˌ|dʒ|uː|s}} {{respell|VUR|jooss}}; from [[Middle French]] ''vertjus'', 'green juice') is a highly acidic juice made by pressing unripe [[grape]]s, [[Malus|crab-apples]] or other sour fruit.<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'', 2nd ed. (1989).</ref> Sometimes [[lemon]] or [[sorrel]] juice, [[herb]]s or [[spice]]s are added to change the flavor. It also goes by the name '''verjus'''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2007-11-19 |title=Verjus |url=https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/ingredients/article/verjus |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017185145/https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/ingredients/article/verjus |archive-date=2023-10-17 |access-date=2023-12-23 |website=[[Bon Appétit]] |publisher=Condé Nast |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Etymology==
The authors of ''The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from France and Italy'' (1998) write that the grape seeds preserved in salts were also called ''verjus'' during the Middle Ages.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Redon |first=Odile |url=http://archive.org/details/medievalkitchenr0000redo |title=The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from France and Italy |date=1998 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-70684-9 |location=Chicago, IL |pages=19 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> The word ''verjus'' is derived from the French term ''vert jus'' ({{literally|green juice}}) which refers to its sour grape source.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Suszko |first=Marilou |date=August 24, 2005 |title=Verjus: The Juice of the Vine |url=https://clevelandmagazine.com/food-drink/home-cooking/articles/verjus-the-juice-of-the-vine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223034806/https://clevelandmagazine.com/food-drink/home-cooking/articles/verjus-the-juice-of-the-vine |archive-date=2023-12-23 |access-date=2023-12-23 |website=Cleveland Magazine |language=en}}</ref>
==History==
From the [[Middle Ages]] through the [[Renaissance]], verjus was [[Medieval cuisine|widely used]] all over [[Western Europe]] as an ingredient in [[sauce]]s, as a [[condiment]], or to [[Deglazing (cooking)|deglaze]] preparations.
Verjus is called ''husroum'' (حصرم) in Arabic; it is used extensively in Lebanese and Syrian cuisine. Verjus is known as ''ab-ghooreh'' (آب‌غوره) in [[Persian language|Persian]], and it is used extensively in [[Iranian cuisine|Persian cuisine]], such as in [[Shirazi salad]].
===Modern resurgence===
[[Maggie Beer]], a South Australian cook, vintner and food writer, began the modern resurgence of verjuice when she started commercial production in 1984, after a harvest of [[Riesling#Naming|Rhine Riesling]] grapes could not be sold. She persuaded a winemaker who was a friend to assist her in turning the juice into verjuice. After slow national sales, 15 years later came international sales, that were then followed in France and elsewhere by local product.<ref>"Reviving a peasant tradition: Maggie Beer has resurrected verjuice", pp. 16–17, Food and Wine supplement, ''[[The Canberra Times]]'', 22 February 2012.</ref><ref>[http://www.canberratimes.com.au/lifestyle/cuisine/this-weeks-food-books-20120218-1tff1.html Maggie's Verjuice Cookbook] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200506191822/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/lifestyle/cuisine/this-weeks-food-books-20120218-1tff1.html|date=2020-05-06}}, [[Maggie Beer]], Lantern, ''[[The Canberra Times]]'' Cuisine, 21 February 2012.</ref> Niagara Oast House Brewers in [[Niagara-on-the-Lake]], Ontario, Canada, developed a farmhouse ale around the use of local Niagara Pinot Noir Verjus, with the first release in fall 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |title=R.R. #5 –Verjus Grape Sour – Niagara Oast House Brewers – Craft Brewery in Niagara-on-the-Lake |url=https://oasthousebrewers.com/product/r-r-5-niagara-verjus-grape-sour/ |website=oasthousebrewers.com}}</ref>
==Usage==
Verjus comes in two colors, white and red.<ref name=":0" /> The red varies from gentle and floral, to rich and hearty; the white varies from  light and mild, to tangy and aggressive.<ref name=":0" />
It was once used in many contexts where modern cooks would use either [[wine]] or some variety of [[vinegar]], but has become much less widely used as wines and variously flavored vinegars became more accessible. Nonetheless, it is still used in a number of dishes as well as in recipes from various cuisines, and can be purchased at some gourmet grocery stores or by local producers.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}
Modern cooks use verjuice most often in [[salad dressing]]s as the acidic ingredient when wine is going to be served with the salad. This is because it provides a comparable [[taste|sour taste]] component, yet without "competing with" (altering the taste of) the wine, the way vinegar or lemon juice would. Some people will drink verjus with sparkling water and ice, which tastes similar to [[lemonade]].<ref name=":1" />
In the Middle East, verjus is thought to have medicinal properties, and can help diagnose illnesses (as it relates to [[Iranian traditional medicine]]).<ref>{{Cite web |last=ایران |first=عصر |date= |title=خواص آبغوره را بشناسید |url=https://www.asriran.com/fa/news/415297/%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B5-%D8%A2%D8%A8%D8%BA%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%87-%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D8%A8%D8%B4%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B3%DB%8C%D8%AF |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=asriran.com |language=fa}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=خبرگزاری باشگاه خبرنگاران |first=آخرین اخبار ایران و جهان |date= |title=تشخیص بیماری با نوشیدن آبغوره |url=http://www.yjc.ir/fa/news/5997616 |access-date=2023-12-23 |website=yjc.ir |language=fa}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[Vinho Verde]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Further reading==
* {{Larousse Gastronomique|Verjuice}}
* ''The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from France and Italy'', by Odile Redon, Françoise Sabban and Silvano Serventi, University Of Chicago Press, 2000. {{ISBN|0-226-70684-2}} (hardcover). {{ISBN|0-226-70685-0}} (paperback).
==External links==
{{Sister project links |b=fr:Livre de cuisine/Verjus |wikt=no |commons=no |n=no |q=no |s=no |v=no |species=no}}
{{Condiments}}
[[Category:Medieval cuisine]]
[[Category:French cuisine]]
[[Category:Condiments]]
[[Category:Sour foods]]