Versatus Broun

Origin: English      Period: Medieval

Original Recipe

Versatus Broun (from A Forme of Cury)

Tak percely, a good quantite, & a litel peletre, & mynte, sauge, dytayne, grene garlyk; wasche hem, grynde smal, & bred þerwyt. Tempere it wyt verius or wyt sorel & serue it forth.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:

200g parsley (preferrably flat-leaf)
200g of mixed fresh herbs to include: mint, sage, chives, chicory, spinach, sorrel and any other green herb that takes your fancy
[the original recipe calls for dittany amongst the fresh herbs. If you grow your own, all well and good. If not... it probably doesn't matter. Herbs were seasonal and whatever was at hand was used]
120g white breadcrumbs
230ml verjuice (or a mix of 150ml white grape juice, 80ml white wine vinegar with a dash of lemon and lime juice will also do)
2 cloves garlic, crushed [this and the chives substitutes for green garlic. In spring you can use wild garlic and if you grow your own garlic you can use the green tips]
¼ tsp hot mustard powder
salt to taste

Method:

Preparation

Place the herbs, garlic and breadcrumbs in a blender. Blitz them until they come to resemble a fine paste. Add the mustard powder, salt and verjuice in the blender and blend until a smooth paste is formed. Pour this into a bowl and leave to infuse for an hour or so. Stri well before serving.

This is a fairly acidic sauce and goes well with fatty meats such as goose, duck or pork. It also works well with most firm fish. The original recipe also calls for sorrel. I actually have wood sorrel growing in the garden and it has a gentle lemony flavour (and makes a great sauce for fish). This is why I've added a little lemon and lime juice to my verjuice substitute.

Read: Recipe Articles and Reviews

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