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TYPES OF VINEGAR

With such an array of vinegars available, it can be bewildering to know which to choose – you don’t want to use an expensive sherry vinegar to clean your windows, nor might you want to add a brash distilled malt to a casserole.

The most common vinegars produced in this country are malt (the brown stuff you put on fish and chips) and distilled malt (the clear type used in cleaning and food preserving).

With wine and sherry vinegars, the quality of the base alcohol used has a direct bearing on how good the vinegar will taste. A decent wine vinegar will be aged for a number of years in wooden casks, which imbues complex and mellow tones.

Balsamic is in a class of its own: look for the terms tradizionale and DOC. Cheap versions will have been coloured and flavoured with caramel and won’t have the authentic flavour balance.

The inclusion of a good wine or sherry vinegar in a soup or stew can often reduce the amount of salt you would normally use. It can also help you cut the amount of fat required in a recipe because vinegar is a great balancer of flavours, thus lessening the need for as much cream, butter or oil. It’s worth experimenting with different types – you’ll soon find out what best suits you. As you read through the descriptions of the most popular vinegars here, we’re sure you’ll identify one or two that will match your palate and style of cooking.