Verjus, the secret condiment of the best chefs and the basis for the success of Dijon mustard

Olite, an ordinary day around 1235. In the gardens of the Palace (today a tourist stop), King Tybalt, refined and cultured, tastes what could have been the first cocktail in history.

In his glass, a mixture of muscat grape verjus and rose syrup brought from Champagne, accompanied by pieces of ice from his own refrigerator.

The Navarrese historian Ricardo Ollaquindia calls this verjus, or green juice, “the Navarrese

champagne

of the Middle Ages” in his

Three Studies on Navarrese Dictionaries

, alluding to the French origin of the monarch.

And the verjus that the regent tasted was one of the liquids most appreciated by the Navarrese kings, who not only enjoyed it as a drink;

It was also a condiment that was liked for providing a soft and friendly acidity, very different from that of vinegar, and it was already used in preparations such as meat, fish, sauce recipes and even mustards.

“While vinegar was obtained for free, because it is the result of an uncontrolled transformation of wine, verjus had to be made on purpose, it was a much more sophisticated condiment” that the kings used to distance themselves from the lower classes, explains winemaker and winemaker Javier Ochoa, who rescued, in the 90s, the production of verjus based on the interpretation of ancient texts and at the request of the Navarra Society of Gastronomic Studies.

Today, it is the only winery, along with Robles from Córdoba, that produces this curious and unknown dressing in Spain.

More information

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Its name refers to the term

jus vert

or green juice and, fundamentally, it is juice from unripe, sour grapes, which are harvested before veraison (the change in color of the berries) and from which, through pressing and fermentation, A liquid is obtained with a multitude of gastronomic uses, used by chefs such as Paco Morales, Pedro Subijana, Joan Roca or Carme Ruscalleda, among others.

Although there are documents that speak of agraz or verjus, interchangeably, as a dressing that did not ferment and was solid in Roman and Greek times, its evolution towards the liquid state and fermentation appear later in documents from the Middle Ages, in Spain, in the so-called

Comptos Registries

of Navarra, a kind of accounting balance for the year.

There, its production is documented and there is talk of 1,300 liters of verjus per year, a liquid that once sold twice as much as vinegar.

Vineyard of Bodegas Ochoa.

Image provided by the company.

After numerous studies and tests at the Navarra Oenological Station, Javier Ochoa interpreted the ancient texts and produced a fermented verjus, a system that, he claims, is the one that best preserved the appreciated acidity characteristic of the dressing.

When he had the definitive formula, and collaborating with the SNEG, they began to disseminate it and make it known to regional chefs.

Today, his daughter, Adriana, continues to make about a thousand half-liter bottles of verjus (at 14.50 euros each) from grapes that she usually harvests in July when they have a high tartaric acidity, essential to give the recipes a different and particular flavor, which she defines as mineral and very fresh.

As it is fermented, it has alcohol, but what is most striking are its acidity levels, which triple those of a wine.

Although, since it is natural from the fruit and does not come from fermentation, they are soft on the palate.

In short: if drinking vinegar can be an unpleasant and aggressive drink, taking a shot of verjus can even be healthy, since, according to chef and expert gourmet Rosa Tovar, this acidity can help lighten the digestion of heavy stews.

Pickled pigeon with agraz-verjus, from the three-star restaurant Noor, in Córdoba.

Photo provided by Bodegas Robles.

More than 700 kilometers from Navarra, in Córdoba, chef Paco Morales (Noor, three Michelin stars) has collaborated with the Robles winery from Córdoba (producer of organic wines from Montilla-Moriles) to develop another agraz-verjus that he uses in pickles , cocktails and other recipes (250 ml bottle at 9 euros).

His curiosity was aroused by reading ancient texts documenting its use in Andalusian cuisine and he contacted the winery because, he comments, “in France it is a condiment that is used a lot, but here it was barely known.”

The Robles team began to make a verjus where, says its owner, Francisco Robles, they use the Verdejo grape, for its acidity, and the Pedro Ximénez grape for its yield (it gives more juice) to obtain a golden product with two degrees of alcohol, which Morales uses to season dishes and provide a subtle fragrance that is not the protagonist, but makes the difference: “In pickles, for example, it gives an interesting aroma, it is less protagonist and more rounded, light.

I like to use it when I don't want it to stand out as an ingredient.”

Like him, at Celler de Can Roca, Josep Roca states that they regularly use it in summer recipes and in dishes such as an oyster with spinach tea and verjus emulsion or a green salad with white garlic, among other preparations.

The secret ingredient of the original Dijon mustard

Although in current preparations

verjuice

is called a preparation with vinegar, water and salt to prepare the famous French mustard recipe, the one created by Jean Naigeon in 1856 and which marked a before and after in the fame of this town had, in In reality, the authentic verjus, a sour grape juice that provided a less wild acidity and elegance to the result, a merit that continues to be recognized by the prestigious Fallot label.

Verjus is also used as an ingredient in cocktails and in some countries it is consumed as a soft drink, although these variations are only the juice of sour grapes and have not been fermented.

There are also preparations made from fruits such as apples or blackberries, but that... is another story.

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