Verjuice.co.uk is the sole UK importer of South African verjuice, a versatile flavour enhancer produced from a blend of unripe red and white noble grape varieties. Akin to vinegar but without the sharp, acetic quality, verjuice, verjus or vert jus as it is known, is an indispensable ingredient to have in the kitchen and with the help of the Australian cookbook author, Maggie Beer, cooking with verjuice is well on its way to a revival as a staple ingredient in the kitchen, just as much as balsamic vinegar or soy sauce is nowadays.
Verjuice is the juice obtained from unripe grapes that have been thinned from the vine half way through the growing process, leaving the remaining bunches to ripen fully in favour of making wine. The bunches are gently pressed, the juice stabilised without any fermentation taking place and bottled as quickly as possible.
This premium natural flavour enhancer adds depth and richness to all your cooking, and given that it shares the same acid base as wine, it won't distort the balance of wine as vinegar or lemon juice would. Verjuice can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes and in larger quantities than you would use either vinegar or lemon juice but rather than masking flavours, verjuice enhances them adding complexity.
Verjuice can be used with vegetables, fish, poultry, red meat, game, and fruit. When roasting, frying or grilling veggies (mushrooms, onions and tomatoes) or meat, deglaze the pan juices with verjuice after removing the grilled food and you'll have a delicious gravy. Verjuice also emulsifies well with olive and other oils and is thus useful to add zest to dressings and sauces. Conjure-up a verjuice dressing to serve with slices of smoked duck, grated beetroot and a green salad. Follow the recipes in the verjuice blog for inspiration.
TRY THIS AT HOMEThe following recipe with Camembert found on the Verjuice Blog intrigued and begs to be tried for a dinner party or part of a buffet. Slice a Camembert in half and spread the bottom layer thickly with mascarpone and sprinkle with chopped, toasted walnuts or almonds and dried or preserved fruit. Pour over a little Caramelised Verjuice Syrup. Place the top layer of cheese and repeat the mascarpone, nuts, fruit and syrup. Slice into thin wedges and serve with water biscuits.
RENAISSANCE HISTORYVerjuice was popular in the Middle Ages throughout grape-growing regions and was regularly used until lemons became more widely available. In 1865, the Burgundian, Jean Naigeon replaced vinegar in Dijon mustard with verjuice, giving the condiment a smooth, mild acidity for which it has remained renowned.
Nigel Slater has recently attested to verjuice's value in The Observer Food Monthly with a recipe for
verjuice, chicken and celery. Also putting their weight behinds its renaissance are well-known chefs, Heston Blumenthal at The Fat Duck, Gordon Ramsay at Maze, as well as Simon Hopkinson and Antony Worral Thompson.
The Verjuice Co. also produces a Caramelised Verjuice Syrup that can also be used in sweet and savoury dishes such as to sweeten up a fruit salad, drizzle over cinnamon pancakes or swirl into gravy to give it a zesty lift or add to a barbeque marinade to create a rich, sticky glaze.
Verjuice.co.uk is steering the revival of this important condiment in the UK by importing and marketing verjuice that is produced in the South African winelands by Cape Town food entrepreneur, Janice Botha, who owns The Verjuice Co. and together with winemaker, James McKenzie of Nabygelen Wine Farm, Green Harvest. Both brands produce verjuice – one from red grapes and the other from white grapes. The two products are totally interchangeable. However, chefs prefer to use the white grape verjuice for poaching white fish and meat and for blending into butter and hollandaise sauces where the red verjuice might otherwise add a slight tinge of colour.
