Koruk Suyu – Trakya Travel

Koruk is the name given to immature grapes with a sour and tart taste. Although it has various uses in the kitchen, it is mostly consumed by removing the water. It has a sour, hard and acidic structure, which is also influenced by the grape type used. Viticulture cultureIn the Aegean and Marmara cuisines, which have deep experiences in Turkish cuisine, verjuice, which is used as grains in some dishes, is more commonly consumed by squeezing its juice. Chorus juice, which is preferred as a refreshing drink in the summer months, is used in olive oil dishes that need a sour taste (leek, wrap, stuffing, okra, black-eyed peas, green beans, etc.), barren, lentil meatballs, etc., in appetizers, in salads, in some meat, It is used in fish and chicken dishes. Sherbet can be prepared by sweetening it with sugar, geranium and/or some spices. The grains can be treated like pickles and the juice can be stored for the winter with the addition of a piece of salt and olive oil (or plain under appropriate storage conditions).

Unfortunately, it cannot be said that in a geography like Thrace, which has a centuries-old history in viticulture, the grove has a well-deserved place in the local cuisine and has a signature in traditional recipes. More grape juice hardaliyegrape molasses, vinegar used in the manufacture of products such as Before the vinegar and lemon sauces, which entered the kitchens more often as a result of industrial production, shook the throne, vermicelli was used as a sauce for sour dishes and salads. This sourness was achieved by adding slightly cracked vermicompost to the food, and sometimes by adding the squeezed juice, as we mentioned above. In this regard, whether there are traditional recipes should be researched and revealed (which is unthinkable in such a long-standing viticulture experience), and verjuice should be brought back into the culinary culture with experimental recipes for modern cuisine.

So, how to prepare verjuice juice, which has been on the rise with the revaluation of healthy nutrition in recent years? How is it consumed? Let’s take a look…

Corn Juice / Corn Sour

• The amount you desire –which is recommended to be prepared in portions of at least 3-5 kilograms in order to be bottled and stored- is separated from the stems and taken into a deep container. It is washed under plenty of water and kept in vinegar water for a few hours. Then it is washed again several times with plenty of water.
• In modern kitchens, the juice is squeezed with a juicer or with the help of a shredder.
• Note: It may be necessary to make a note here. Knife shredders break the core of the fruit along with the flesh. Crushing all the seeds can make the verjuice bitter. We want only a part of the seeds to be crushed, so that we can include the healing in the seed into the verjuice water.
• When prepared with traditional methods, the groves taken in deep mortars or other containers are cracked with mallets or wooden spoons, the cracked groves are separated into water by manpower and/or weight, different pressing methods.

• Firstly, the grove water is passed through relatively large-pored colanders and taken into a container, and the grove water, which still has coarse sediment, is filtered again, this time using a milk strainer or cheesecloth.
• The obtained verjube juice is taken into glass bottles as it is or with the addition of a pinch of salt. It is kept in front of the glass for a few days in a place that receives sunlight. During this time, as the sediment settles to the bottom, the color of the verjuice turns a little.
• Koruk juice is taken to a cool, sun-free place to be stored.
• Note : In the Aegean, a little olive oil is added to create a protective layer on the upper part of the verjuk water and bottled.
• Note: Although verjube juice can be bottled in its pure form, sometimes the obtained verjube juice is boiled for a few hours with the addition of a pinch of salt. During this period, the foam is removed in a controlled manner and the verjuice, which turns into a light wine color, is clarified and bottled.

Koruk Sherbet

It is a sherbet preparation method that is mostly seen in Aegean cuisine. The leaves of a kind of geranium plant called pelargonium are consumed by drinking the knots. After the aromatic taste is mixed with verjuice juice, this herb is taken from the boiling syrup.

• Koruk grains are removed from their stems as mentioned above and washed in plenty of water.
• Chops taken into a deep pot are cracked and boiled for at least half an hour with the addition of enough water to cover them by an inch or two.
• The softened groves are taken into cloth bags with their water and squeezed together with the pulp by a press or man power. As we mentioned above, this can be done in different stages as colander / wire strainer / cloth bag. The important thing is to take the berry must separated from the pulp.
• Koruk water is taken into a deep pot / cauldron to boil.

• Sugar is added at the rate of 1/7 according to the taste. This rate can be left to the person in a way that is less or more.
• The foams formed as it boils are constantly removed. This boiling process may take 3-4 hours depending on the amount of material used. The foams will decrease, the color of the must will turn into a more wine color and it will have a relatively clear appearance.
• It is plucked in a few knots containing leaves on the geranium (make sure it is clean) and added to the boiling verjube water. It is pressed lightly with a wooden spoon and boiled for half an hour.
• Pelargonium, whose aroma passes into verjuice juice, is extracted.
• It can be drunk warm or bottled and then thinned and consumed cold as a refreshing beverage.
• For this, sherbet essence is put in half of a glass. Cold water or grape juice obtained from ripe grapes and ice are added on it. The taste of the vermicelli sherbet, which is thinned according to desire, is balanced with the addition of a little more sugar according to the taste.