On 3/8/2018 at 2:32 PM, Cronker said:It’s just unfermented grape juice, really, and it’s like a vinegar style.
I really get hot under the collar when ‘celebrity’ chefs just bang on about one particular ingredient, especially when they sell it. Balsamic does pretty much the same thing as verjus, and far cheaper. Maggie Beer comes across as the best grandma you could ever wish for in your kitchen, but truth is, she is a hard nosed **** to work for.
Well, I want to experiment with it at the urging of a chef I know personally and respect completely, who is not shilling anything.
Acids are all different. Saying that "Balsamic does pretty much the same thing as verjus, and is far cheaper" is a head scratcher. Where I live, real balsamic vinegar costs around $30 an ounce; fake supermarket balsamic is useful for basically nothing; and neither tastes anything like unaged, unfermented acidic juice. I would consider them to be at opposite ends of the flavor spectrum when looking for an acid.
FWIW, my current go-to acids (in order of brightness to roundness) are pure citric acid, lemon juice, fino sherry vinegar or grenache vinegar, palomino sherry vinegar, moscatel or pedro ximenez sherry vinegar, and reduced wine. I probably use more px sherry vinegar than everything else put together, at least these days. I want to play with verjuice for the brighter end of the spectrum, for things where I currently use lemon juice or the lighter vinegars.
Edited to add: the main acids in unripe grapes are tartaric and malic, which should lead us to expect a quite different character from the usual citric and acetic acid-based potions.