In Japan and China,
vinegar is made from rice wine. In the United States, the main ingredient
is apple cider, and in Mexico, cactus leave or pineapple are used. Throughout
Europe, wine and sherry are preferred, and in Sri Lanka, a Buddhist country
where alcohol is forbidden, it is made from coconuts.
The word vinegar comes from the French words vin and aigre, meaning soured
wine. When wine or any other naturally fermented alcohol, such as beer and
cider, is exposed to air, it gradually turns to vinegar. The discovery of
vinegar was probably an accident and who made the discovery is not known.
The Bible is filled with as many references to vinegar is it is to wine. The
Chinese are known to have made rice vinegar over 3000 year ago, and early
drawings show that the Greeks and Romans created elaborate vessels to hold
their vinegar into which chunks of crusty bread were dipped.
The business of making and bottling vinegar did not begin until the fourteenth
century in France. In the Middle Ages, vinegar was the the great hazard of
the wine trade. At first the soured wine was considered a loss, but it didnŐt
take long
before someone turned this useless liquid into a big business.
In the wine depot at Orleans the demand for vinegar was so great that a guild
of professional vinegar makers, the Corporatif des Maitres-Vinaigriers ' Orleans,
was established in 1394. Today, the best vinegars are still made using the
old Orleans process. The process begins with top quality wine for wine vinegar
and whole apples for cider vinegar. The liquid is placed into large wooden
casks with small air holes and is allowed to mature slowly and naturally until
a film of bacteria, called the mother, forms on top. The mother is the life
force which keeps the vinegar alive and reproducing generation after generation.
At first it looks like a thick white film but as it matures it grows into
a gelatinous slime which resembles a jellyfish. . Like good wine the best
vinegars are allowed to age, sometimes for several years. During the aging
process ascetic acid is formed which gives the vinegar its tartness. The vinegar
is drawn off from a spigot a the bottom of the cask carefully so as not to
kill the mother. The cask is then replenished with a fresh batch of liquid.
That is the old fashioned method. Today there are many vinegar producers who
use modern, high-tech equipment that enables the entire process to happen
in about three days.
The wine
or other ingredient is usually of poor quality, it is sprinkled with wood
chips to induce a mother and then heated at extremely high temperatures and
aerated mechanically. While some of these quick vinegars are fine for recipes
that call for only a teaspoon of vinegar they cannot compare with the flavour
of those allowed to age slowly and naturally. When buying vinegar there is
an easy way to seewhich process has been used.
If the product has been properly aged, the label will indicate Made by the
Orleans Process, Aged in Wood or Vinaigre a la Ancienne. Many of the producers
tell you the whole production story on the label. In the United States the
level of acidity must be printed on the label. The level of acidity in vinegar
varies greatly, the higher the level the tarter the vinegar.Generally the
highest quality have a high acidity level of 6 -7 percent, compared with ordinary
supermarket brands with only 4 - 5percent
Apple Cider Vinegar.
The early American colonists are said to have invented apple cider vinegar
by allowing the natural sugars in apple cider to ferment, first into alcohol
(or what they called hard cider) and then into vinegar. Its most common use
was for pickling vegetables, but apple cider vinegar was also used as a condiment,
sprinkled into sweet soups, hearty stews, cold fruit salads, hot fruit compotes
and over steamed fresh vegetables. Its pungent apple flavour was not its only
appeal. For years apple cider vinegar was used to fight the common cold, arthritis
and other ailments. Some New Englanders still use it as a tonic to aid digestion
and it is purported to be an aid to reduce body fat.
Today this vinegar is one on the biggest selling vinegars in the United States.
Although many people consider its strong preservative powers and its inexpensive
price tag to be its main attributes, a well-made apple cider vinegar can easily
rival a wine vinegar. When properly aged it has a beautiful amber colour and
the fresh tart flavour of apples. There are great differences between a fine
example and odourless, tasteless stuff you find on many supermarkets shelves.
To begin with a good producer will start with a wide variety of whole apples;
the more types of apples used the fuller the final flavour. Most of the cheaper
brands are made from apple cores and peelings. The apples are first ground
into a sauce and then cold pressed to extract juice. The fresh cider is placed
in wooden casks where the natural sugars ferment into alcohol, or hard cider.
The hard cider is transferred to other wooden casks where is is exposed to
air and gradually turns to vinegar. It is allowed to age in the casks until
the vinegar has mellowed and developed a full rich flavour. Most of the cheaper,
harsher tasting brands are artificially infused with oxygen and bottled without
aging. To make sure you have bought a quality product it should indicate 'made
from whole apples exclusively', and 'aged in wood'.
A vinegar which is full strength is 5/6 per cent acidity.
Balsamic Vinegar.
Aceto balsamico is to vinegar what Ferrari or Maserati is to cars. aceto the
Italian word for vinegar, and balsamico, which loosely translated means 'that
which is good for your health' is unlike any other type of vinegar. It has
been made in and around the city of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region, for
at least a millennium.
It is a rich dark-brown vinegar that is so intensely aromatic and sweet that
it is sometimes used alone as a salad dressing or splashed over fresh strawberries.
It has a sweet-and-sour flavour that is so refined that you can drink it straight
from the bottle. Aceto balsamico is made exclusively from the must of wine
grapes that contain a high sugar content, like Lambrusco, Salamino and white
Trebbiano. The newly pressed must is filtered through cloth and then reduced
by cooking it slowly is copper cauldrons.
After cooking it is transferred to large casks made of various specific woods.
By Italian law they can only be made from oak, chestnut, mulberry or juniper.
Once in the barrels the must is exposed to air and the sugars ferment into
alcohol and finally into vinegar. The vinegar is then transferred about once
a year into barrels of different types of wood.To be called aceto balsamico,
Italian law says that the vinegar must age or a minimum of three years.
Chinese Vinegar.
The Chinese are passionate about the sweet and sour flavour of rice vinegar,
which they have been using for thousands of years. Although vinegar is used
as a cooking ingredient in a variety of Chinese dishes, it is most frequently
used as a condiment.
The three major types of Chinese vinegar are red, black, and white; in general
they are sweeter and sharper than the delicate Japanese rice vinegars.
Chinese Red Vinegar.
Made from red rice, this sweet vinegar is used for two reasons, to cut the
richness of certain foods and to highlight the sweetness in soups, stews and
seafood. It is used as a dip for oysters on the half shell, steamed dumplings
and fried prawns.
Chinese Black Vinegar.
This dark-brown vinegar has a rich, sweet flavour similar to a Spanish
sherry vinegar or an Italian balsamic vinegar. It is believed to restore strength;
in Southern China it is made into a tonic and given to women after childbirth.
Like the red vinegar it is used to balance excessively rich or sweet dishes.
It can be bought either plain or in a variety of extra-sweet, seasoned versions.
Chinese White or Pale Amber Vinegar.
As its name implies, this is a pale-coloured rice vinegar frequently used
in sweet and sour dishes and as a dressing for raw vegetables, and should
be used in moderation.
Japanese Rice Vinegar.
Japanese rice vinegar
is a mild, slightly sweet condiment made from rice wine. It is lighter and
more delicate than European vinegars with a low acidity of 2-4 per cent. It
is a key ingredient in Japanese quisine. The Japanese have a name for dishes
made with vinegar, sunomono,which literally translated means 'vinegared things'.
These are small salads made up of fruit, vegetables and seafood tossed in
a vinegar dressing. Another popular was of using Japanese rice vinegar is
as a seasoning for sushi rice- that sticky, sweet rice served with thin slices
of raw fish.
It is used with sushi rice because of its gentle tartness and pleasing aftertaste.
It has been noted that suchi shop workers have soft and smooth hands free
from cracks and blemishes, the secret is the mild protective acidity of the
rice vinegar.
Malt Vinegar.
Malt vinegar has been popular in England since the early sixteenth century
and is made from barley that is mashed, heated with water and then fermented
into a crude type of beer known as 'gyle'. The beer is placed in large vats
filled with beech shavings and left to ferment for several weeks, until it
turns into vinegar. It is then filtered and coloured with caramel. The varying
shades of brown you find are simply the result of how much caramel has been
added. Its most well known use is when sprinkled of the English favourite
'fish and chips'.
Wine
Vinegars.
Of all the varieties of vinegar sold today, wine vinegars are the
most versatile. Wine vinegar breaks down into three major categories: those
made from red and white wine, Spanish sherry and champagne. Red and White
Wine Vinegar. Wine vinegars vary in price tremendously from the weak 'quick
method' supermarket brands to the well aged, 'Orleans in style' product.
There is a big difference. Well made it can enhance a dish, poor quality will
ruin it.
Sherry Vinegar.
Sherry vinegar is made in the south-western area of Spain around Jerez. The
best are aged for twenty to thirty years before being bottled.
Champagne Wine Vinegar.
When you open a bottle of the (rather overpriced) vinegar. don't expect to
hear a pop when uncorked. There aren't any bubbles inside. In fact there isn't
even any Champagne. Champagne vinegar is made from dry still white wine produced
in the Champagne region of France. It is ideal for making vinegar which can
be excellent.