Food
Crab apples
Crab apples → Verjuice
Picture to come.
The small, hard, very sour fruit of the wild apple tree, gathered from woodland edges and hedges in autumn. Too tart to eat raw in quantity, crab apples were pressed for verjuice, a sharp juice used in cooking much as vinegar or lemon is today, and could be cooked with other foods. Verjuice from crab apples or unripe grapes was a familiar medieval kitchen ingredient, though most English recipes that name it are later.
Caveats (confidence: medium)
Detailed English evidence for crab-apple verjuice is mostly 14th-16th century (e.g. Tusser); 12th-century use is assumed from general medieval practice.
Sources: uea.ac.uk · en.wikipedia.org
Made by
- Forage
Used to make
- Press cider and perry
- Press verjuice