Beginnings of Vinegar – NHS News
Once upon a time, every American cook made their own vinegar. They began with whatever fruit was ripe and abundant, most frequently apples. If they were very economical, they made vinegar from the fruit pairings and cores. They fermented the fruit to make hard apple cider then covered the jug with cloth to keep out flies and dust, and waited. If they had an active vinegar mother (the whitish veil composed of acetobacters that grows on the surface of vinegar-in-the-making), or had a piece from a neighbor, they would add it as soon as the cider had finished its alcoholic fermentation. (Having a mother starts the vinegar fermentation more rapidly.)
After a few weeks, airborne bacteria would have begun a second fermentation in the jug — from cider to vinegar. The cook would taste the new vinegar over a period of weeks and months. When it was strong enough to suit their taste, they poured it into bottles and corked them.
Summertime is for making herbal vinegars.
I make small batches of vinegar so that its flavor is as fresh as possible. Rose petals, lemon verbena and sage each will make a wonderful vinegar. I like using a good quality champagne vinegar. I really like the idea of a vinegar tasting suggested by Jill Kuhel in her July herbal vinegar talk. More to look forward to in the wonder of herbs and how to use them.
- Co-President, Janet Lindsteadt