The Miracle of Vinegar: 150 easy recipes and uses for home, health and beauty. Aggie MacKenzie

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      DISTILLED MALT VINEGAR

      This is produced by the distillation of malt, which gives a clear, colourless vinegar. Inexpensive; used mainly in pickling and preserving, and also for cleaning.

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      HONEY VINEGAR

      Sharp and bright with no hint of sweetness. It has a strong kick, so use it sparingly. Good with the Chocolate Sharing Mousse here.

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      MALT VINEGAR

      Made from barley and dark brown in colour. It has a very sharp taste; it is traditionally sprinkled over fish and chips, but it’s also really useful when making big batches of pickles or chutneys as it’s inexpensive.

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      MOSCATEL VINEGAR

      Sweet and raisin-y, with hints of honey and florals. If this is used in a dressing, reduce the suggested sugar quantity so as not to overdo the sweetness. Good with a soft, creamy blue cheese such as Gorgonzola dolce or Beauvale. For a new twist, use in the classic dressing for oysters – sauce mignonette (see here).

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      RASPBERRY VINEGAR

      Bright pink with a thick consistency and a predominant fruity taste with a tart edge. Keep it for salad dressings and try it in the recipes here.

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      RED WINE VINEGAR

      It’s really worth pushing the boat out with this type of vinegar and looking for a particular grape, such as Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon, as the flavour of these is incomparable. Some specialist red wine vinegars have been mixed with grape juice, which softens the sharpness, and are good for splashing into a dish of dark fruits. Or use them for finishing off a game dish. A basic red wine vinegar is fine for everyday dressings, but when you want a subtle sharpness with complex flavours, you do need to shell out for something a little more special. A good-quality red wine vinegar will have a well-rounded flavour that’s tangy rather than acidic, and will also be less likely to cause acid reflux or heartburn in those prone to it.

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      RICE VINEGAR

      This is made from rice and water, which are left to brew and then sometimes flavoured with salt. Useful for quick pickles (eg radish and cucumber) or for splashing over stir-fries.

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      SHERRY VINEGAR

      Like sherry itself, from Fino to PX there’s a huge range of flavours for this vinegar – and again, the more you spend, the more complex the character. Some makes have colour added, so check the bottle before you buy. A basic one is good added to gravies, or use it to cut through a fatty sausage – see tip here or the couscous salad here. The PX vinegar is sweetish and smooth and works well with dark fruits such as blackberries.

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      VERJUS

      Not strictly a vinegar, but it is often used in the same way to finish off recipes or added to pan sauces. It’s made by pressing unripened green grapes and has a raisin-y/apple-y aroma and taste. Also good with summer fruits – see Peaches with Verjus and Rosemary here – and salads that feature toasted nuts and cheeses. It’s not as sharp as most vinegars, so it allows other ingredients to sing rather than be swamped.

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      WHITE WINE VINEGAR

      The go-to for a light salad dressing when you need a touch of acidity – use one-part vinegar to three-parts mild olive oil. You can also use it to make a shallot pickle to go with a curry as here.

CLEANING TIPS

      A large Norwegian study widely publicised in the UK at large Norwegian study widely publicised in the UK at the beginning of 2018 showed that regular use of cleaning sprays has a negative impact on lung health – similar to smoking 20 cigarettes a day over 10 to 20 years.

      Vinegar, on the other hand, is biodegradable and provides a hostile environment for many types of germs. What makes it such a good cleaning agent? Acidity. Shop-bought distilled malt vinegar (the clear stuff) contains around 5% acetic acid and 95% water – fine for most general cleaning.

      Vinegar is great for cutting through soap scum and limescale on shower glass, grease on cooker tops, and it’ll strip wax build-up from a wooden floor. There’s almost no end to the multitude of types of dreck it can conquer. (But don’t use it on marble because it will mark the soft stone.)

      You might want to vary the dilution depending on the task: you could use neat vinegar for mould on grouting or to disinfect a chopping board, whereas a 50:50 solution with water will work for general wiping down. A quick spritz of this mix will neutralise kitchen and bathroom smells.

      Because it’s natural, it’s great for outdoor jobs such as wiping down patio furniture, cleaning exterior windows… and even getting rid of weeds!

KITCHEN

      LIMESCALE ON TAPS

      No need to spend your hard-earned cash on specialist products – much better to use bog-standard distilled malt vinegar (the clear, colourless stuff) instead. For ordinary chrome taps (don’t use this on special finishes, it might be too strong and ruin your bespoke surface), soak a few sheets of kitchen paper with the vinegar, wrap these around the taps and cover with a plastic bag. Secure the lot with an elastic band so that the vinegar stays in contact with the taps and does its work. Leave on overnight, then the next morning, the scale should lift off fairly easily – just wipe it with a cloth. If it’s really thick and annoyingly stubborn, repeat the process. You can take off any remaining bits of scale with a plastic scourer.

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      DESCALE YOUR KETTLE

      If you live in a hard-water area you’ll definitely have limescale, and the build-up of this is one of the main reasons why electric kettles meet their death. When the metal element gets coated with scale, this stops the heat getting into the water as efficiently, which can cause overheating (which will shorten the kettle’s life). Stop this happening by descaling the kettle about once a month: fill it with half water and half clear vinegar – make sure it comes up over the scale line – and bring it to the boil. Switch off and leave overnight. Please note – it is really important to use clear vinegar for this; if you use the brown malt variety, the liquid inside the kettle will massively expand and erupt and you’ll have a vinegary СКАЧАТЬ