By Roberta Muir
The word ‘vinegar’ comes from French for sour wine (‘vin aigre’) as it originally occurred accidentally when acetic bacteria attacked wine, turning it sour, but it can be made from any fruit, grain or sugar that can be fermented. Its use is as old as winemaking and Hippocrates refers to its medicinal properties in 500 BC. The best is made from a ‘mother’ starter from a previous batch of vinegar, similar to the sourdough starter used in bread making. It is used to flavour (in marinades, salad dressings and sauces) and, because of its high acid content, as a preservative (in pickles and chutneys).
Wine Vinegars
The original vinegars, made from white and red wines, including Champagne. The best are made by the traditional Orléans method where good wine is mixed with vinegar and fermented slowly then matured in small French oak barrels. Some wine vinegars are sold by grape variety, including the Spanish Forum brand, whose chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon vinegars have a little sweetness from added grape juice.
Serve it at home: Make a classic vinaigrette to dress green salad, steamed beans or asparagus: dissolve a good pinch of salt in 1 part white wine vinegar, whisk in a good grind of pepper and 4 parts olive oil.
Eat it at: Pendolino – The Strand, Sydney, 02 9231 6118 (Cannellini Bean & Farro Salad dressed with Agrodolce di Nebbiolo Vinegar)
Sherry Vinegar
Produced in the Jerez region of Spain and granted PDO, Vinagre de Jerez must be aged in American oak for at least 6 months. Most Sherry vinegars are aged using the same solera system as Sherry wines and the best command prices at least as high as the sherry they were destined to become.
Serve it at home: An essential gazpacho ingredient: blend 1kg ripe tomatoes, 2 red capsicums, 2 Lebanese cucumbers, 2 red onions, 1 clove garlic, ¼ cup sherry vinegar, 4 slices white bread soaked in ½ cup extra virgin olive oil and 1 cup water until smooth. Chill and garnish with diced tomato, capsicum, cucumber and croutons.
Eat it at: Ravesi’s – 118 Campbell Parade, Bondi Beach, 02 9365 4422 (Oysters Grilled with Mojama and Pedro Ximinez Sherry Vinegar)
Balsamic
Thick and dark with a distinctive sweet-sour taste, the very best is labelled Aceto balsamico tradizionale di Modena and you shouldn’t waste time or money on anything else. A specialty of the Modena and Reggio Emilia regions of Italy, it has PDO status and is made from unfermented concentrated grape juice and aged for at least 12 years (though the best can be decades old) in different sized barrels made from different woods. Before bottling, a little of the oldest vinegar is blended into younger vinegars, in a system similar to the soleras used for Sherry, so the age on the label is a minimum. It isn’t cheap, but you get what you pay for and a little goes a long way. ‘Aceto balsamico di Modena’ (without the tradizionale) is not protected by PDO, the best are balsamic vinegar blended with wine vinegar and the worst are wine vinegar darkened with caramel.
Serve it at home: Toss just a few drops of the best balsamic you can afford with sliced strawberries.
Eat it at: Café Sopra – 7 Danks Street, Waterloo, 02 9699 3174 (Cabbage Salad dressed with 12-year-old Banda Rossa Balsamic)
Cider
Popular in apple producing areas, such as Normandy in France, north eastern USA, and south western England, it’s used in pickles, chutneys and vinaigrettes, marries well with apples and tomatoes and is an ingredient in many traditional folk medicines.
Serve it at home: Baste roasting pork with a marinade of cider vinegar and honey.
Eat it at: Claude’s – 10 Oxford Street, Woollahra, 02 9331 2325 (Bitter & Sweet Salad of Ocean Trout & Vegetables Pickled in Aged Cider Vinegar)
Rice Vinegar
Made from rice wine and popular in China, Korea and Japan. Chinese Black Vinegar is used in braised dishes, red vinegar is often a dipping sauce for dumplings and white is used in pickling. Japanese rice vinegar is an essential ingredient in sushi rice.
Serve it at home: Use red rice vinegar mixed with a little grated ginger as a dipping sauce for fried or boiled dumplings.
Eat it at: Emmilou – 413 Bourke Street, Surry Hills, 02 9360 6991 (Salmon Cured with Rice Vinegar served with Pickled Shimeji Mushrooms & Salmon Caviar)
Verjuice
Verjuice, or verjus, (French for ‘green juice’) isn’t really a vinegar as it’s made from unfermented juice (of unripe grapes or crab apples), but it can be substituted for vinegar and is a handy alternative where any form of alcohol is forbidden (as in Muslim dishes).
Serve it at home: Use to deglaze the pan after roasting meat, boil to reduce and add a dash of cream for a simple sauce.
Eat it at: Bird Cow Fish – 500 Crown Street, Surry Hills, 02 9380 4090 (Potato Gnocchi with Prawns, Burnt Butter and Maggie Beer’s Verjuice)
Others Vinegars:
Malt Vinegar, originally called ‘alegar’ (sour ale), is brewed from malted barley (an unhopped beer), coloured with caramel and used on fish ‘n’ chips or in pickling.
Flavoured vinegars are wine vinegars infused with fruit (raspberry dates back several centuries and is sweetened and diluted as a cordial) or herbs (tarragon, used in béarnaise sauce, is the most common).
Raisin and date vinegars are popular in Middle Eastern cuisines. Coconut, cane and palm vinegars are common in the Philippines; coconut vinegar is also used throughout Southeast Asia and India.
