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.