Flavored Vinegars
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... submitted by dave |
from yardley, pa |
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mmmmm----- recipe via meal-master (tm) v8.01 |
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title: flavoured vinegars |
categories: french, condiment, ceideburg 2 |
yield: 1 servings |
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mmmmm---------------------flavoured vinegar-------------------------- |
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| mmmmmfor each 1 litre wine bottle--------------------- |
1 | l (1 3/4 pints) plain wine |
| vinegar |
4 or 5 | shallots, peeled and |
| slightly crushed, threaded |
| on fine string or |
4 clove | garlic, peeled and |
| slightly crushed or |
2 Tbsp | mustard seed or |
1 | long leafy branch tarragon |
| twice the length of the |
bottle | |
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flavoured wine vinegar has been an important ingredient in french |
cooking since medieval times when vinegar was essential in order to |
keep meat edible in warm weather. |
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in the 13th century, street vendors were granted the right to cry |
their wares in the thoroughfares of paris. these cries soon became |
famous, and the vinegar sellers even rolled their casks through the |
narrow streets crying 'garlic and mustard vinegars, herb vinegar... ' |
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'vinaigres, bons et biaux.' |
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they also sold verjus, the sieved juice of unripe grapes which serves |
to sharpen the flavour of many cooked dishes in the same way that |
vinegar does. it is still used in some country places and provides a |
means of using up green grapes unfit for any other purpose. |
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all farm kitchens have an earthenware vinegar barrel. it constitutes |
another of the many country economies. after the grape harvest, a |
certain quantity of either red or white wine is reserved and poured |
into the barrel over a liquid fungus or mere de vinaigre which turns |
it into vinegar. the quantity drawn off each day is replaced by |
emptying the remains of the wine bottles into the barrel. |
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when herbs are most pungent, just before flowering, they are cut and |
used to aromatize some of the vinegar drawn off. it is then bottled |
and used for flavouring. |
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owning a vinegar barrel is a privilege of which few english kitchens |
can boast but plain wine vinegar sold in the multiple chemists' shops |
can be used effectively with home-grown herbs to produce fine vinegar |
at much less cost than that prepared commercially. |
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flavoured vinegar: |
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collect the number of bottles necessary, with sound corks to fit. |
wash the bottles in hot soapy water, rinse first in very hot water |
then in cold, drain, dry and heat in a slow oven. scald the corks in |
boiling water. |
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pour the vinegar into an enamel-lined or stainless steel pan and over |
a low temperature bring slowly to blood heat. it should be quite |
warm to the touch of a knuckle joint, no more. add shallots, garlic, |
mustard seed or tarragon to the warm bottles. (if using tarragon, |
this should be bent double and pushed down the neck of the bottle.) |
fill up with warm vinegar, cork down tightly, and place on a sunny |
window sill to mature for 6 weeks before use. |
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| from "the french farmhouse kitchen", eileen reece, exeter books, |
1984. | isbn 0-671-06542-4 |
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posted by stephen ceideberg; |
http://www.simpleinternet.com/recipes/ |
international recipes online |
on-line culinary discussion at food.chat: |
http://www.simpleinternet.com/foodchat/ |
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(ID: 12024) Mirror: rec.food.recipes: Sun, Jun 29, 2003 |