Verjuice (Sour Grape Juice)

Verjuice is a traditional condiment in European and Middle Eastern cuisines including Turkish cuisine. It is often used as a substitute for lemon in salads like shepherd salad and in dishes like bamia stew and stuffed grape leaves. 

If you like sour condiments like this, you might want to check out our pomegranate molasses recipe too.

What is Verjuice?

Verjuice, also known as verjus or vert jus, is pronounced vehr-ZHOO . It is basically the juice of sour unripe grapes. You can use any type of grape that hasn't ripen yet but traditionally, it is made from the crops that are picked for thinning of vineyards, which is often made to improve the quality of grapes. 

It is often made from green grapes, but you can use red grapes too. Although it is not very common, verjuice can also be made from sour fruit like crab apples or plums. 

This sour and acidic juice is used as a substitute for lemon juice or vinegar but has a milder taste. It is not fermented or doesn't contain any alcohol. It has the tang of citrus fruit, so you can use it in any recipe that calls for citruses.

How To Make It

So how do you make verjuice at home? You need only unripe grapes and a little time. It doesn't require any fermentation process. There are 2 methods to make it:

First method is an old, traditional one:

1. Rinse the unripe grapes very well. 
2. Put them in a large bowl and mash them with the bottom of a jar. You don't need to remove them from the stems. 
3. Transfer the resulting juice into a fine mesh sieve and squeeze in your hands. Make sure to use gloves when doing this. Alternatively, you can strain it with a coffee filter or cheesecloth. 
4. Pour the juice into a mason jar and keep it in the fridge.

Second method is the modern way:

1. After rinsing the green unripe grapes, remove the stems.
2. Put the grapes in a juicer and make juice out of them in batches. 
3. Pour it into a fine mesh sieve or in a cheese cloth and strain to remove the pulp. Keep in mason jars.

The downside of this second method is that the verjuice might taste bitter as the seeds are also mashed in the juicer. So we recommend the first old method. It might sound messy and tedious, but it is worth it. 

Expert Tips

• If you have a food mill, you can use it to crash the grapes. Remove the stems and put the grapes in your food mill fitted with a coarse plate. You still need to strain the juice using a fine mesh sieve.
• Put on gloves when squeezing the unripe grapes as the acid in them might hurt your skin. 
• Try to be as quick as possible when juicing the unripe grapes. As you work, there will be oxidation and the juice will lose the green color. So work fast.
• The color of the homemade verjuice might change from green or yellow to brownish. It is okay, the taste will still be good. 
• The verjuice will separate and you will see a thin layer of sediment at the bottom of the jar as it sits in the fridge. It is fine, just give it a shake and then use it.
• You can keep it in the fridge for 2-3 months. If you want to keep it longer, add in a teaspoon of citric acid and sea salt after pouring it into a mason jar and shake well.

How To Use It

You can use it in any dish that is calling for lemon juice, lime juice or vinegar. We often use it as a dressing in our favorite Turkish salad. You can use it in marinades and cooking too. We like adding a splash of verjus over Turkish stuffed green peppers or adding some in soups. It has the same effect as a splash of lemon juice.

You can make verjus sauce for fresh oysters or prepare a classic beurre blanc sauce to serve with any seafood including baked seabass.

It is great in meat dishes too. You can try famous Australian chef Maggie Beer's braised beef cheeks in verjuice.

Verjus is also an amazing ingredient to make alcoholic or non-alcoholic cocktails. You can create your own cocktail by mixing it with soda water, vodka or gin.

Storing

You can keep verjuice in bottles in the fridge for 2-3 months. If you buy it from the store, you can keep it re-corked after opening. Also, you can freeze it in ice cube trays for about 6 months.

Where To Buy It

If you don't have a chance to make verjus at home, you can buy it from gourmet grocery stores or online shops. Search it on Google in your area, you might even find a local producer.

Substitute

White wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar or lemon juice is a great verjuice substitute. 

Verjus vs Vinegar

Unlike vinegar, verjuice has a sweet-tart taste and it is not too acidic. But it makes a great substitute for white wine vinegar. So if you are not a fan of the strong flavor of vinegar, you can use verjus. 

Verjus vs Grape Juice

Verjus is not just normal grape juice that you can buy from the fruit juice section at the markets. It is not as sweet and you don't want to drink it on its own. Because it is unripe grape juice, it has a sour and sweet taste that is close to citrus fruit. So verjuice is used to flavor dishes.

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