Proud To Be British.Types of vinegars and their uses
last updated Friday 5th November 2010 - 19:18
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Summer or winter, salads have become a staple part of our diet, as have the dressings that accompany them.
Most dressings will have vinegar as part of the ingredient, but do you know what the different varieties of vinegars are used for?
The most popular are:-
White vinegar: - which is actually transparent in appearance. It is used for culinary as well as cleaning purposes and can be used for medicinal purposes like the treatment of bites and rashes.
Malt Vinegar: - it is traditionally used as a condiment on fish and chips or in baking and also a preservative for pickling. It is made from malting Barley and is light brown in colour.
Wine vinegar: - This vinegar is the most commonly used vinegar in the Mediterranean. Wine vinegar is made from red or white wine. It has a sharp flavour and is predominantly used for salad dressings.
Better quality wine vinegars are matured in wood for up to two years and have a mellow flavour.
More expensive wine vinegars are made from individual varieties of wine such as champagne, sherry or pinot grigio.
Cider vinegar: - is made from cider or apple must. It is often sold unfiltered and is brownish – yellow in colour.
Balsamic vinegar: - is the king of vinegars. Its name means ‘balm-like’, reflecting its digestive qualities.
Balsamic vinegar is an aromatic aged type of vinegar. It is very dark brown in colour with a rich sweet flavour.
It is traditionally manufactured in the area around Modena, Italy from the concentrated juice or must of the white grape of the Trebbiano variety.
True Balsamic is aged between 3 and 12 years in a successive number of casks of decreasing sizes and different woods.
Sometimes it can age for as long as 50 years!
Genuine balsamic vinegar (Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena)is controlled by law. It must have aged for at least 12 years. Vinegar aged 20 years or more is called Stravecchio.
Proper Balsamic vinegar is expensive, but the flavour is so concentrated that a little goes a long way.
Vinegar will keep for many months in a cool dark place.
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