Pickles and preserves
Verjuice is made by crushing unripe green grapes and straining the juice, then boiling it down to one-third of its original volume. In Southeastern Turkish cooking, it is used instead of lemon in stuffed bulgur balls, raw meatballs (çiğ köfte), salads, and other sour dishes. It is milder than lemon, less sweet than pomegranate molasses, and distinctly fruity.
Remove the grapes from their stems. Discard any that are darkened or soft, then rinse the rest in cold water and drain.
Pulse the grapes in a blender for 10 seconds, or crush them with a pestle in a wide bowl; broken seeds will make the verjuice bitter. Transfer the crushed grapes to a cheesecloth-lined strainer and squeeze out the juice. You should get about 1.8 liters.
Pour the juice into a wide pot and bring it to a boil. Skim off the green foam as it rises, then continue boiling uncovered. When the liquid has reduced to one-third, about 600 ml, and turned dark amber, add the salt and remove from the heat.
While the juice cooks, boil the bottles and caps for 10 minutes. Use a funnel to fill the bottles with the hot verjuice, leaving 1 cm of headspace. Wipe the rims and seal.
Pick the grapes when the cluster is nearly full size but the berries are still firm, green, and sour; grapes that have started to sweeten will not make a tart verjuice. An unopened bottle keeps for 1 year in a cool place; refrigerate it after opening.
Korukları ezdikten sonra tülbentten iki kez geçirdim, tek süzmede çekirdek kırıntısı kalıyor ve şişenin dibinde tortu yapıyor.
Kaynatırken köpüğü almadım, ekşi bulanık çıktı. İkincisinde kepçeyle aldım, berrak oldu. Köpüğü almak yalnız görüntü meselesi değil, o köpük dipte yanınca kaynatmanın sonunda acımsı bir tat da bırakıyor.
Ne kadar koyulaşacağını kestiremedim, yarıya inince durdum ve kıvamı limon suyu gibi oldu. Şişeleyip iki gün bekleyince biraz daha koyulaştığını gördüm, yani ocakta tam istediğiniz kıvama getirmeyin, biraz cıvık bırakın.
Yarıya inmesi iyi bir ölçü. Daha koyu isterseniz üçte bire indirin ama ekşilik de yoğunlaşır, salatada damlayla kullanırsınız.
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