The Power of Vinegar

Reading
time 4 minutes

embroiderer, herbalist, certified farmer, and amateur mystic. A few years ago, she reoriented her interests towards fields and meadows; she transitioned from culture to nature. In the past, she described herself as an ethnographer, journalist, archivist and cultural animator.

For several years, I have been turning everything I come across into vinegar. Anywhere I go – woods and meadows, markets and allotment, forest paths and clearings, riverbanks – I forage flowers, plants, weeds, herbs, berries, fruits, roots and rhizomes. Vinegars once played an important role in herbal medicine. They were dethroned once distillation became popular – alcohol, as an excellent solvent for valuable plant ingredients, has dominated herbal remedies. I appreciate tinctures and I do make them myself, but my heart belongs to vinegars.

The best known herbal vinegar in the European herbal community is the four thieves vinegar supposedly invented during the Black Death epidemic. According to legend, it protected a group of looters from catching the disease, while others dropped like flies. Last year, I tried to make this concoction during a trip to southern France. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find all the necessary ingredients (angelica,

Information

You’ve reached your free article’s limit this month. You can get unlimited access to all our articles and audio content with our digital subscription. If you have an active subscription, please log in.

Subscribe

Dominika Bok:

embroiderer, herbalist, certified farmer, and amateur mystic. A few years ago, she reoriented her interests towards fields and meadows; she transitioned from culture to nature. In the past, she described herself as an ethnographer, journalist, archivist and cultural animator.

Translation: Joanna Figiel

Publish date: 17.09.2021

Also read:

dr Ryan Bromley:

is a food and drink industry maverick with fingers in many sauce pans – once a chef, always a chef. A scholar of the chemical senses and a curator of food in art, he is passionate about craft spirits, soul food and soulful living.

Food without sourness would be like a sunset without the colour red. Without utilizing the sourness of acids, there can be no balance between the primary flavours of sour, sweet, bitter, salty and umami. Sourness cuts through the heaviness of a dish, making flavours sparkle, cleansing the palate and refreshing the soul.

One of the most common ways to add sourness to a dish is by adding vinegar. Despite its critical role in cuisine, people seem to care very little about the quality of their vinegar. The good news is that making your own vinegar, one of the most ancient traditions of gastronomes, is almost effortless and practically free.

Also read:

The Power of Sour

Login

Register