Verjuice of Apples

Food of England, Dorothy Hartley, p. 421-2

Ms. Hartley provides a definition and explanation of verjuice. This is not a recipe, but someday I would like to figure out how to make this as a replacement for lemon juice. We are planning on getting lemon trees, but with climate change, our mild north-west climate may change for colder winters, which would kill any trees. Since I depend quite a lot on lemons and lemon juice in many of my recipes, a workable alternative would be fantastic.

'Verjuice was in constant use till the last century, when its place was taken by the squeeze of lemon juice. It is really a very sharp cider - not a vinegar. The distilling was of interest, for it would account for the apparent mildness of some of the pickles made. In copying old recipes, very often a sharp cider is much nearer the original than modern vinegar.'

In this separate entry, Dorothy recommends distilling in the spring: http://lamouffetterustique.blogspot.com/2017/03/pickling-with-verjuice.html

ALSO https://www.worldturndupsidedown.com/2015/10/18th-century-crab-apple-verjuice-recipe.html

"Having got crab apples, as soon as the kernels turn black, lay them in a heap to sweat, then pick them from stalks and rottenness, then in a long trough, with stamping beetles, stamp them to a mash, and make a bag of coarse haircloth, as square as the press, fill it with the stamped crab-apples, and being well pressed, put the liquor up in a clean vessel." (from The New British Jewel. London: Printed for Osborne and Griffin, and H. Mozley, Gainsborough, 1788

This is better explained in the other entry on Dorothy's book: http://lamouffetterustique.blogspot.com/2017/03/crabapple-verjuice.html

ALSO

https://www.woodland-ways.co.uk/blog/wild-food/green-juice/

"Today verjuice is making a comeback, and is used by many of the top chefs. It can be incorporated into salad dressings, used for deglazing pans, making sauces, fruit compotes, fish stock and in fact anywhere that vinegar or lemon juice may be used.

"There are several different recipes around, some partially ferment the apples first or sometimes a lacto-fermentation is encouraged but in this recipe it is just the unadulterated juice. It’s very simple to make and the 750g of crab apples that I collected yeided about 400ml of the finished verjuice.

1. Wash the apples
2. Blanch the apples in boiling water for a few minutes (this will soften the apples and make pressing them easier)
3. Remove the stalks
4. Put into a food processor and blitz into a fine pulp
5. Put into a jelly bag or wrap in a muslin cloth
6. Either press in an apple press, squeeze in a potato ricer or place in a sieve and weigh down with something heavy (cans of food etc.)
7. Pass the juice through fine muslin cloth
8. Bottle
9. It’s worth making sure everything is spotlessly clean and sterilising the bottle, you can even add a splash of vodka to inhibit bacterial growth.