Since 'verjus' means green juice, the French make it from more than just early picked green grapes. I've had it made from pomegranates, bitter oranges and wild pears.  If you can't find any made with the classic base, do what French country people do and try verjus made with an alternative ingredient, such as this one made from sorrel leaves, which you can find at Whole Foods.

Grind a bunch of cleaned and de-stalked sorrel to a pulp and thin it out to juice consistency with dry white wine. Store in the fridge overnight then strain through fine cheesecloth (I've used double layers of paper towel in a sieve) before using. It won't keep long.

Just don't do what I did: use a copper pan when working with sorrel. Thoughtlessly doing so has stripped mine of its lead lining and I've no idea where to get that replaced, let alone want to contemplate what drinking the sorrel soup (not verjus) that I made in the pan has done to my stomach. (What, you'd throw away a sorrel soup made from sorrel grown in your garden thinned with cream and a stock slowly reduced from the carcasses of wild pigeons? I don't think so. I imagine the reference to wild pigeons gives away the fact that I didn't cook this in DC.)

2 Comments

1. Steve

   Possible sources for relining pot Awesome Metals, 4233 Howard Ave., Suite G
   Kensington, MD 20895 and Chevy Chase Plating & Polishing
   12131 Nebel Street Rockville, Maryland 20852.
   
   I assume your pot was tin lined, rather than lead lined. Food should never come into contact with lead. It is extremely toxic.

2. Julia

   Yup, tin lined. Do they still line pots with lead? Thanks for the lead - the other kind! I'll follow it up. I wouldn't have known where to look for help, so very grateful not to have to retire my lovely pans.