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| Making of the verjuice in the Middle Ages. |
It’s a typical condiment of kings and queens. This is the Agraz–Verjuice, a condiment used throughout the history of gastronomy and that, in fact, its price was twice the vinegar’s in the Middle Ages.
In Bodegas Ochoa, loyal to our decision in favour of quality, we decided in the nineties to restore this Navarre’s traditional condiment and make it with the traditional recipe, but as always, taking advantage of the new technologies. Thus, in 1998 we commercialized the Agraz-Verjus for the first time in Spain. A condiment obtained from unripe grapes, with a high level of acidity and fruity aromas that make it more suitable than other seasonings like vinegar or citric juice.
The use of the Agraz-Verjus in the current cuisine means the recovery of a great nobility condiment. It enriches dishes with raw materials that contain fat (some meats, game, foie, fish…) or contrasts with the sweetness of others, like onions, butter, etc…. It is also valid for imaginative dishes of the new cuisine.
Uses of the verjuice in the cuisine.
Greeks and Romans discovered the qualities of the verjuice wine, but it wasn’t until the Middle Ages when it started to be used for gastronomy purposes, although the medicinal application continued as in Greek and Roma.
The french writer Antonie Furitière suggests in his Universal Dictionary published in the XVII Century that the verjuice (regarded as jus or juice) was a condiment used for the high cuisine.
Due to its appropriate acidity and its fruity smell, the main function of the verjuice in gastronomy consisted in preparing some sauces and products, specially meat and fish, for a good culinary production.
Navarre owns a great richness of documentation about the production of the Agraz and the making of the Verjuice. In the Middle Ages, most of the Verjuice supplies were sent to the royal guesthouses, mainly for cooking soups, fish and meat, and the Agraz used to come from royal vineyards, even from the gardens of the Palace of Olite. When the Teobaldos came, it began the distinction of the agraz as the unripe grape and the verjuice as a elaborated condiment. Its price was higher than the wine’s or vinegar’s because the yield was (and it is) lower than half of the obtained in wines.
The agraz used to be harvested during August. The production of verjuice for the royal guesthouses varies between 3 and 7 cocas (565 and 1.318 litres yearly); 16 cocas were made in exceptional years (3.000 litres). The verjuice was valued the double than the vinegar.
Currently, the use of the verjuice is limited to some particular restaurants, those that have showed sensitivity for restoring new tastes. It can be found in France, United States and Spain.
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