Marie V Vinegar

Vinegar is a cook's ingredient used almost everyday in the Marie V household. From salads, to sauces, dressings and more, vinegar is an essential product that I can't run-out of. I'm now offering you my home-made red wine vinegar.

We've been making our own red wine vinegar for decades in my family. We've had the same culture for decades and as it grows from the fermentation process it has been shared between generations. My own culture as far as I know was begun by my grandmother.

By nurturing it every few months with good quality red wine, the culture helps the wine ferment into vinegar. The taste and strength of the vinegar is affected by the quality and type of wine that is used. The wine needs to rest at least three months with the culture to ensure it's transformation into vinegar.

Our family has kept their culture in a stone based jar with a cork lid. There are however a variety of jars that are advised for vinegar making from wooden casks to porcelain pots and more. My own jar, older than myself, has a fantastic age-old film of culture helping the process. It's wonderful to think that there is so much happening to the red-wine within the three months.

After three months, most of the produce is transferred into glass jars ready to use. I personally love thyme with my vinegar. I push several sprigs of home-grown fresh thyme into the bottle to infuse the vinegar. Raspberry infused vinegar is also a treat, so watch this space. And also walnut infused vinegar is a real delight, but hard to achieve without fresh walnuts.

There is also a growing popularity in chilli vinegar, a spicy infused vinegar, best used in moderation. I find this vinegar ideal for cooking, in sauces and dressings for rice salads. Mr M enjoys to team this vinegar with chilli infused olive-oil, however this is a little too spicy for me to handle!

I hope to experiment with fig infused vinegar in the near future too.

Look out for some fantastic recipes using vinegar coming up, however be sure to buy some Marie V home-made red wine vinegar. Presented in a glass jar with a vintage lace bow, it makes a perfect gift for budding cooks and looks great in your pantry!