Expand Your Cooking Prowess with These Vinegar Tips
Written By: Alexandra Perez-Urbina on Tue, Sep 2nd 2008
When alcohol goes past its delicious stage, we get another useful kitchen ingredient: Vinegar. Vinegar is a result of a bacterial ambush in the alcohol, which turns the alcohol into acetic acid.
When it comes to cooking with vinegar, there are many options. Distilled, or white vinegar, is made of distilled, grain alcohol. It is a strong, vinegary, highly acidic liquid. It is extremely versatile and can be used for cleaning or cooking. In the kitchen, it's used to clean fruits and vegetables, and in pickling and preserving.
Apple cider vinegar is most used in American cuisine. It is made of unpasteurized apple juice or apple cider. This vinegar has a fruity aroma and is mildly acidic. Apple cider vinegar is also used for health reasons and has a reputation for being somewhat of a health tonic. Several health studies have been conducted, and it's been proven that apple cider vinegar helps control type 2 diabetes and assists with weight loss.
Rice vinegar is made from rice wine. Its flavor is clean and elegant, and it is a highly versatile vinegar, popular in Japanese and Asian dishes. It is important to note that Chinese rice vinegar tends to be less sweet and more acidic than its Japanese counterpart.
Malt vinegar is made from malted barley. It is sweet and mild, which makes it a wonderful condiment. Malt vinegar has an affinity with fried foods - use it instead of ketchup, or pour it into a spray bottle and mist your fried food with it for a little kick.
The most popular kitchen vinegars are red and white wine vinegar, and their flavors resonate with French and Mediterranean cuisine. Sherry vinegar, or Vinagre de Jerez (or Xeres), is more complex, and it is aged in a solera system (a network of barrels), like sherry. Sherry vinegar and wine vinegar can be used in deglazing pans, and in making sauces sauces and vinaigrettes. Champagne vinegar is probably the mildest vinegar, and its light flavor makes it a great contender for delicate salad dressings and vinaigrettes.
My vinegar of choice is probably balsamic vinegar, which has existed in Italy for more than 800 years. It is traditionally made with Trebbiano and Lambrusco grapes, from which a wine is made, reduced, and then aged in succession of barrels (from oak to juniper) from four to fifty years - his is why traditional balsamic vinegar tastes so good! But good quality balsamic vinegar is expensive... most of the commercial balsamic we find in supermarkets are made with red wine vinegar, then fortified with grape juice, and/or by quick caramelization and flavoring.
As far as quality goes, the quality of the vinegar relies on the quality of the alcohol. You want your vinegar to be clean and clear in appearance - if it's cloudy or muddy, toss it. You want to keep vinegar in a cool, dark place, and it could last as long as a year. For a little fun kitchen experiment, try making your own flavored vinegar, like people did for centuries - all you need is decent quality vinegar and your favorite herb, spice, fruit, or vegetable, and a few weeks. Vinegar is a versatile kitchen tool that has earned its place in out kitchens for many centuries and will continue to do so for many more.
