Cooking with Verjuice - Tapa dura

Verjuice, literarlly "green juice", originally referred to the juice extracted from crab apples and was in constant use in British cooking from medieval times up the 20th century, when it was largely replaced by a squeeze of lemon juice. In France it was the juice from unripe grapes and was a staple of French provincial cooking. In the 21st century grape Verjuice is going through a Renaissance. It has the tartness of lemon juice and the acidity of vinegar without the harshness of either and is used much in the same way to heighten flavour, making it a useful and versatile ingredient especially in sauces and dressings. It is being tipped to become the next most popular and fashionable culinary staple.

Maggie Beer, until 1993 one of Australia's foremost restaurateurs and now one of the country's leading food writers, is renowned for her love of regional produce and championing of traditional methods. In Cooking with Verjuice she reveals all you need to know about verjuice and offers many tips and recipes of her own as well as ones from friends and colleagues. After working for years to perfect verjuice produced on her farm, she is now selling it commercially and it will be available in this country in May as part of Sainsbury's Special Selection.