What is vinegar?
Vinegar is a mixture of acetic acid and water. There are many different types of vinegars, and whether they are suitable for cleaning or cooking depends on the acid content. Vinegars sold for culinary use usually contain 5-7% acetic acid, while vinegars intended for cleaning, laundry, and other household tasks contain over 10% acetic acid.
The production of vinegar involves bacteria converting alcohol into acetic acid. These are known as acetic acid bacteria, and the process requires the presence of oxygen. If the vinegar is made from sugar-containing liquids, the sugar is first converted to alcohol, which is finally turned into acetic acid. Vinegar has been used for many years as a preservative, especially in pickling. This is because bacteria and microorganisms cannot survive in the acidic environment, thus significantly extending the shelf life of the pickled products. This was particularly important in times when there were no chemically produced preservatives, and people were highly dependent on vinegar’s preserving properties. Today, thanks to freezers and various E numbers, we have a multitude of ways to store food for a long time. However, as more people seek to eat food without many artificial additives, many of the age-old preservation methods are gaining renewed interest.
Vinegar can do much more than preserve. In pickled products, such as pickled beets, cucumbers, and red cabbage, vinegar, together with sugar, contributes not only to the extended shelf life but also to the characteristic sweet-sour flavor.
There is a multitude of vinegars, each differing in taste and color. Some vinegars can be used for most purposes, but many have a distinctive taste and color that make them best suited for specific uses. A light wine or apple cider vinegar is generally quite neutral in both taste and color and can be used for most purposes, whereas a dark, intensely flavored balsamic vinegar will often be too pronounced in both color and taste.
If you want to try your hand at making vinegar yourself, we have a recipe here:
Here, we provide you with a list of the most common vinegars available in stores, along with a few tips on which dishes they can be used in:
Distilled vinegar:
Available in two versions. A clear one, without any additives, and a brownish one that is colored with caramel and seasoned with salt and spices. The two vinegars are exactly the same product, and they can be used for the same purposes. If you use the vinegar for something that should not take on color, you should use the clear version, but in many cases, you can simply use the one you have in stock. Distilled vinegar is inexpensive and has a neutral flavor, making it particularly useful for pickling vegetables and marinating herring, where large quantities are typically used.
We have many recipes that use distilled vinegar:
Balsamic vinegar:
Balsamic vinegar is an Italian, aromatic vinegar made from reduced grape must. The vinegar comes in both white and red, with the color depending on the grape variety. It is thicker in consistency and sweeter and more aromatic than other vinegars because the wine vinegar is mixed with reduced grape juice. White balsamic vinegar is lighter and more acidic than the dark version.
Balsamic can be used for salad dressings, as a seasoning in sauces, or it can be reduced to a thick syrup and served with desserts or cheeses.
We have many recipes with balsamic, for example:
Wine vinegar:
Most wine vinegars are made from regular red and white wine. When the wine is exposed to the oxygen in the air, it turns sour as it is invaded by acetic acid bacteria, which convert the alcohol into acetic acid. Depending on the grape variety forming the basis of the vinegar, different flavor nuances emerge in the finished product. Generally, the better the wine, the better the vinegar.
Wine vinegars are used for various purposes, including:
Fruit vinegar:
Just as wine is the basis for wine vinegar, various forms of fermented fruit juices can be used to make fruit vinegar. This method can be used to make vinegar from apples, pears, plums, and cherries, but also blackcurrants, raspberries, and elderflower juice are possibilities. Thus, there are many opportunities for new and unexpected flavor combinations, and new products are constantly appearing on the shelves.
Rice vinegar:
Rice vinegar is made from rice, where the starch in the rice is broken down into sugar and fermented into rice wine. It is the most common type of vinegar in Asia, where it comes in countless varieties. Rice vinegar is usually milder and sweeter in taste than other wine vinegars. It is used in Asian cuisine, where it is an important ingredient in, for example, sweet and sour sauces, stir-fries, noodle soups, and fish dishes.
Sherry vinegar:
Sherry vinegar is made in the same way as wine vinegar, where the sherry turns sour when invaded by acetic acid bacteria from the air’s oxygen. The vinegar has a beautiful golden-brown caramel color and a very aromatic taste. Sherry vinegar is used in dressings and sauces, as well as in the traditional Spanish vegetable soup gazpacho, which is served cold.