Bhat et al.

Vinegar is the world’s oldest cooking ingredient and food preservation

method. Vinegar’s use can be traced back over 10,000 years. In fact,

flavouredȱ vinegarsȱ haveȱ beenȱ manufacturedȱ andȱ soldȱ forȱ almostȱ 5,000ȱ

years. The wide variety of vinegars available today is nothing new. Until

the six century BC, the Babylonians were making and selling vinegars

flavouredȱwithȱfruit,ȱhoney,ȱmalt,ȱetc.ȱtoȱgourmetsȱofȱtheȱtime.ȱInȱaddition,ȱ

the Old Testament and Hippocrates recorded the use of vinegar for

medicinal purposes (Kehrer 1921; Conner 1976).

Theȱuseȱofȱvinegarȱtoȱflavourȱfoodȱisȱcenturiesȱold.ȱItȱhasȱalsoȱbeenȱusedȱ

as a medicine, a corrosive agent, and as a preservative. In the middle

Ages, Alchemists poured vinegar onto lead in order to create lead acetate,

called “sugar of lead”, it was added to sour cider until it became clear that

ingesting the sweetened cider proved deadly. Production of vinegar was

alsoȱburgeoningȱinȱGreatȱBritainȱandȱitȱbecameȱsoȱprofitableȱthatȱaȱ1673ȱActȱ

of Parliament established a tax on so called vinegar-beer. In the early days

of the United States, the production of cider vinegar was a cornerstone of

farm and domestic economy, bringing three times the price of traditional

hard cider.

Types of Vinegar

The predominant type of vinegar in United States is white or distilled

vinegar. Vinegar is usually described in terms of grain strength, the grain

being ten times the acid percentage. For example 10% acid is referred to as

100 grain (Cruess 1958).

According to the Crisco Company, vinegar varieties vary greatly

from country to country. Some of the most popular vinegars and their

characteristics are shown below:

ˆ Balsamic vinegar isȱbrownȱinȱcolourȱwithȱaȱsweet-sourȱflavour.ȱ

It is made from the white Trebbiano grape and aged in barrels

of various woods. Some gourmet Balsamic vinegars are over 100

years old.

ˆ Cane vinegar is made from fermented sugarcane and has a very

mild,ȱrich-sweetȱflavour.ȱItȱisȱmostȱcommonlyȱusedȱinȱPhilippineȱ

cooking.

ˆ Champagne vinegar has no bubbles. It’s made from a still, dry

white wine made from Chardonnay or Pinot Noir grapes (both of

which are used to make Champagne).

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