As the Nathan Outlaw Verjus website says, “the word ‘Verjus’ derives from the Middle French ‘vert jus’ meaning green juice. It is made from pressed unripe (or green) grapes. Verjus was used widely by medieval cooks as a condiment, in sauces, soups and to deglaze.”
Bottles were given out this week at NO’s Everyday Seafood book launch. I often make sauces using wine and/or lemon juice. Using the Verjus resulted in a very similar, but subtler effect. Heating the seafood in the sauce added the seafood’s flavour too. This was really simple, and really good.
What to use
- Seafood – whatever you like, I used prawns, squid and mussels, precooked
- Verjus – approx 50ml, maybe a bit more
- Olive oil
- Butter
- Garlic
- Parsley
- Sea salt to taste
How to use it
Put your pasta on to boil.
Heat a table spoon of olive oil and a knob of butter in a non-stick pan, then saute a couple of cloves of crushed garlic for a minute or so. Add the verjus and bring to a gentle bubble.
A couple of minutes before the pasta is due to be done, add the seafood to the sauce, turn the heat up so it’s gently bubbling, and heat through for a couple of minutes. Season and add the parsley.
Mmm rating: mm mm mm
Cost: £3
What to listen to: given what happened yesterday, it has to be Prince (sob)
What to watch: as above, it has to be Purple Rain, and here’s the speech he made after winning the original song/score Oscar for it. I want that outfit.
eatburpsleep 