Verdurette, a natural alternative to bouillon cubes
Verdurette is a staple ingredient in my cooking classes. Stored in a jar, it’s a salty herb paste that replaces bouillon cubes or salt and seasoning in many recipes.
Verdurette or Vegetable Stock/Broth Base Recipe
- 1 part finely chopped onion or shallots
- 1 part finely chopped root vegetable: carrots, celery root (celeriac), parsnips, etc (but not potatoes)
- 1 part finely chopped greens: kale, spinach, nettles, cress, etc.
- 1 part finely chopped fresh herbs: parsley, thyme, oregano, etc.*
- 1 part kosher or sea salt (non iodized, not table salt)
For every 4 parts veggies/herbs, add 1 part sea salt (iodized salt discolors the verdurette). Stir until well combined.
Pack into a clean glass jar, cover, and store in the refrigerator.
*Use strong flavors sparingly, such as garlic, cress, sage, tarragon, cilantro (coriander) and rosemary. Aromatic herbs such as thyme, marjoram, parsley and chives can be used freely.
***
Uses for Verdurette
To use verdurette, replace the salt in any ‘savory’ recipe with a small spoon of verdurette.
Add 1 – 2 teaspoons verdurette to a quart of water for a simple vegetable broth. Add to sauces instead of plain salt. Make a simple but delicious herbed-yogurt dip by adding a teaspoon of verdurette to yogurt. Use verdurette to season your vinaigrette, omelettes, casseroles, and soups.
- Food photographers make my verdurette look good! Verdurette mise en valeur par N&B Photographie
Verdurette Tips & Comments
- Always err on the conservative side when seasoning with verdurette. Start with a little, taste and add more if desired. It’s easier to add more salt than remove it from your dish!
- In the original French recipe, the ‘parts’ are by weight (100g each), but American versions have converted it to volume measurements (1/2 cup each) with fine results. From my experience, the ‘cups’ version leads to a saltier recipe, so I prefer to measure my parts by weight, but it’s fine to use cups, too.
- If using cups (and not weight measurements), make sure the vegetables are very finely chopped (minced) before measuring, especially the greens. A food processor comes in handy for this. (Purests chop it all by hand, but I don’t, even though hand chopping is more ‘eco-friendly’.)
- Celery (both celery root & celery branches) are one of my favorite flavors to use in my verdurette. Celery (or lovage – a perrenial garden herb related to celery) is one of the main flavors in traditional bouillon cubes, so it provides that “comfort food” flavor.
- This recipe keeps in the fridge indefinitely, at least 6 months to a year. I’ve read a comment from a French woman who claims that when her jar is low, she just makes more, but hasn’t completely emptied her jar for 20 years!
That’s old-fashioned, authentic salt preservation. - Although it is recommended to store this mixture in your refrigerator, I’ve left mine at room temperature for weeks with no problems. The high percentage of salt works as a natural preservative.
- Advanced: You can adjust the recipe by mixing the categories (using more onion, for example), as long as you stick to the ratio 1 part salt and 4 parts ‘other’ (finely chopped veggies and herbs). That’s 20% salt to ensure long-term preservation.
(Recipe in French here. Recette en français ici.)
Recipe adapted from: http://foodpreservation.about.com/od/Salting/r/Vegetable-Soup-Base-Verdurette.htm
Posted by danielleinmons on 20 January 2015 in Recipes
