Flavored Vinegars
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| |
| ... submitted by dave |
| from yardley, pa |
| |
| 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-------------------------- |
| |
| | 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 | |
| |
| 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. |
| |
| 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... ' |
| |
| 'vinaigres, bons et biaux.' |
| |
| 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. |
| |
| 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. |
| |
| 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. |
| |
| 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. |
| |
| flavoured vinegar: |
| |
| 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. |
| |
| 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. |
| |
| | from "the french farmhouse kitchen", eileen reece, exeter books, |
| 1984. | isbn 0-671-06542-4 |
| |
| posted by stephen ceideberg; |
| http://www.simpleinternet.com/recipes/ |
| international recipes online |
| on-line culinary discussion at food.chat: |
| http://www.simpleinternet.com/foodchat/ |
| |
| -- |
| (ID: 12024) Mirror: rec.food.recipes: Sun, Jun 29, 2003 |