Vinegars

Main Index

Adding vinegar to baking soda produces a chemical reaction that produces carbon dioxide. This combination is often used to make a do-it-yourself erupting volcano.
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Varieties

White
Made from grain (often maize) and water. White vinegar is used for culinary as well as cleaning purposes.

Malt
Made by malting barley, causing the starch in the grain to turn to maltose. An ale is then brewed from the maltose and allowed to turn into vinegar, which is then aged. It is typically light brown in color.

Wine
Made from red or white wine, and is the most commonly used vinegar in Mediterranean countries and Central Europe. As with wine, there is a considerable range in quality. Better quality wine vinegars are matured in wood for up to two years and exhibit a complex, mellow flavor. Wine vinegar tends to have a less acidity than that of white or cider vinegars. There are more expensive wine vinegars made from individual varieties of wine, such as Champagne, Sherry, or pinot grigio.

Apple cider
Otherwise known simply as cider vinegar, is made from cider or apple must, and is often sold unfiltered, with a brownish-yellow color; it often contains mother of vinegar.

Fruit
Fruit vinegars are made from fruit wines usually without any additional flavouring. Common flavors of fruit vinegar include apple, black currant, raspberry, quince, and tomato. Typically, the flavors of the original fruits remain tasteable in the final vinegar.

Balsamic
An aromatic, aged type of vinegar traditionally manufactured in Modena, Italy, from the concentrated juice, or must, of white grapes (typically of the Trebbiano variety). It is very dark brown in color and its flavor is rich, sweet, and complex, with the finest grades being the end product of years of aging in a successive number of casks made of various types of wood (including oak, mulberry, chestnut, cherry, juniper, ash, and acacia). Originally an artisan product available only to the Italian upper classes, balsamic vinegar became widely known and available around the world in the late 20th century. True balsamic is aged between 3 - 12 years. One can sometimes even find balsamics that have been aged for up to 100 years, though they are very expensive

Rice
Is most popular in the cuisines of East and Southeast Asia. It is available in white (actually light yellow), red, and black variants.

Coconut
Made from the sap, or "toddy," of the coconut palm, is used extensively in Southeast Asian cuisine (particularly in the Philippines, a major producer of the product), as well as in some cuisines of India. A cloudy white liquid, it has a particularly sharp, acidic taste with a slightly yeasty note.

Cane
Made from sugar cane juice, is most popular in the Ilocos Region of the northern Philippines (where it is called sukang iloko), although it is also produced in France and the United States. It ranges from dark yellow to golden brown in color and has a mellow flavor, similar in some respects to rice vinegar, though with a somewhat "fresher" taste.

Raisin
Vinegar made from raisins is used in cuisines of the Middle East, and is produced in Turkey. It is cloudy and medium brown in color, with a mild flavor.

Date
Vinegar made from dates is a traditional product of the Middle East

Beer
Vinegar made from beer is produced in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands. Although its flavor depends on the particular type of beer from which it is made, it is often described as having a malty taste.

Honey
Vinegar made from honey is rare, though commercially available honey vinegars are produced in Italy and France.

East Asian black
Chinese black vinegar is an aged product made from rice, wheat, millet, or sorghum, or a combination thereof. It has an inky black color and a complex, malty flavor. There is no fixed recipe and thus some Chinese black vinegars may contain added sugar, spices, or caramel color. The most popular variety, Chinkiang vinegar, originated in the city of Zhenjiang, in the eastern coastal province of Jiangsu, China, and is also produced in Tianjin and Hong Kong.

Flavoured vinegars
Popular fruit-flavored vinegars include those infused with whole raspberries, blueberries, or figs (or else from flavorings derived from these fruits). Some of the more exotic fruit-flavored vinegars include blood orange and pear.

Herb vinegars are flavored with herbs, most commonly Mediterranean herbs such as thyme or oregano. Such vinegars can be prepared at home by adding sprigs of fresh or dried herbs to store-bought vinegar; generally a light-colored, mild tasting vinegar such as that made from white wine is used for this purpose.

Red vinegar is of Cantonese origin and is made from rice wine, sugar and herbs including ginger, cloves and other spices.

Spiced vinegar, from the Philippines (labeled as spiced sukang maasim), is flavored with chili peppers, onions, and garlic.

Kombucha
Kombucha vinegar is primarily used to make a vinaigrette and flavored by adding strawberries, blackberries, mint, or blueberries at the beginning of fermentation.

How To
· White Distilled Vinegar Cooking & Kitchen Tips

Recipes
· Three Cheese Blend Dipping Oil
· Balsamic and Roasted Garlic Dipping Oil
· Miso Ginger Vinaigrette
· Apple Cider Vinaigrette

Health Benefits
Small amounts of vinegar (approx. 20 mls or two tablespoons of domestic vinegar) added to food, or taken along with a meal, have been shown by a number of medical trials to reduce the glycemic index of carbohydrate food for people with and without diabetes. This has also been expressed as lower glycemic index ratings in the region of 30%.

A scientific study published in 2006 concluded that a test group of rats fed with acetic acid (the main component of vinegar) had "significantly lower values for serum total cholesterol and triacylglycerols", among other health benefits.

History
Vinegar has been made and used by people for thousands of years. Traces of it have been found in Egyptian urns from around 3000 BC.