Blackberry vinegar is my number one favourite, and it began as an end of summer holiday family ritual as when I was growing up. For us Blackberry picking always began on the last Sunday of the annual school summer holiday. The resulting Blackberry harvest provided our family for several months to come with; jams, pies, syrups, cordials and vinegars, etc. It was a tradition that I continued with my children, becoming a much looked forward to, end of summer ritual.
My Mother and Grandmother both swore by Blackberry vinegar as a cure all for coughs, colds, sore throats and the flu. No doubt this is because of the amounts of vinegar and Blackberries used; I have read somewhere that Blackberries are one of the few fruits that do not experience the destruction of vitamin C when they are cooked.
You can use virtually any soft fruit or berries to make a fruit vinegar, and other favourites of mine are; Blackcurrant, Blueberry, Logan Berry, Raspberry and Strawberry. Although in the past I have also used Apples, Pears, Peaches, Damsons and Plums.
Normally I would pick the berries when they are in season, but as most of you are aware I have only recently moved into “My own place,” and I now have full unrestricted access to a kitchen for the first time in a little over three years. This year promises to be an exciting one, as there are loads of other recipes that I would like to try. However, this thread is about making fruit vinegars, and new vinegar recipes that I intend to try during the coming seasons will include; Apricot, Black and Green Grapes, Rose Hips, Haws, Gooseberry, and Rhubarb.
However, it is the end of January and so I have had to cheat a little, by purchasing 1 Kg of frozen Black Forest fruits from one of the major supermarkets. This fruit and Berry mix consists of; Blackberries, Raspberries, Blackcurrants, Black Cherries, Black Grapes and Strawberries.
The other ingredients for this fruit vinegar are; 2 litres of Malt vinegar, and 2 Kg of white granulated sugar. Note; if you pay attention you will notice that I was not fully prepared, and only had a little over 1.5 kg of sugar available and so I was reduced to ad-libbing, by utilising 425g of clear honey (keep your eyes on the sugar jar behind the kettle in the photos). You can make a fruit vinegar with Honey, but that is usually in a 50-50 ratio with the sugar. I have made this batch of fruit vinegar in the ratio of 3 parts sugar, and 1 part Honey.
Normally I would make fruit vinegar with the base ingridients in the ratio of; 1 kg fruit, 1 kg Sugar, and 1 Litre of Vinegar. I prefer to use a Malt vinegar, but plain and unflavoured wine and cider vinegars can also be used. Here in england, I am lucky because of the many small to medium sized Cider producers, who often also produce their own Cider Vinegars. Different varities of appples and techniques ensures many interesting base cider vinegars for me to work with. I hope to find a Perry (Pear) Vinegar producer this year, and try that as a base for one of my batches fruit vineger making.
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First let the pack of fruit thaw out. Obviously if you have picked the fruit and berries yourself, you will not have to go through this stage.
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Then place the fruits into a large mixing bowl, and zap them with a blender on the lower speed.
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When you have the fruits and berries coarsely zapped with the blender, add half of the malt vinegar. Then zap the mix again, but on the higher speed.
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Pour in the rest of the Malt vinegar and continue zapping it with blender on the high speed. When you are satisfied, cover the bowl, and stand it in the fridge overnight.
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The following morning, stand the bowl on the work top and allow the contents to gradually return to room temperature.
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Then strain it all through a sieve into a large pan. This is going to take some time; this batch took slightly over 4 hours to fully drain through my sieve. So putting it through a coarse sieve first would help.
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Turn on the heat and bring it steadily up to the boil. Turn the heat down, and gently simmer for 5-10 minutes whilst occasionally stirring. This will give you the opportunity to start weighing out the sugar.
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As the fruit and the vinegar is gently simmering, steadily add the sugar, constantly stirring.
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As explained earlier, I did not have sufficient sugar available, and so I added 425 g of clear Honey.
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Continue with a gentle simmer for about 90 minutes or until the mix has reduced by about a quarter of its volume. If you require a thicker, more syrupy end product, continue simmering until the mixture has reduced by a third. When I was a child, my mother often reduced her Blackberry Vinegar by half, ending up with something with the viscosity of Tate & Lyle Golden Syrup.
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Stand the bottles in a pan of cold water, and slowly bring to the boil. The bottles have already been sterilised and this step is to prevent heat shock during the transfer shattering the glass bottles. I am using an empty 2 litre glass Cider jug and a 1 litre glass Cordial bottle because they are what I had immediately to hand. Usually I would prefer to use 250-500ml glass bottles for my vinegars.
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Skim all of the scum from the surface of the simmering mix.
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Make sure that your funnel is to hand and place it into the neck of the first bottle ready for the transfer.
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With the bottle still standing in the pan of hot water, steadily pour the hot fruit vinegar into it. Be extremely careful when pouring, the syrup is still close to boiling point. WARNING: Scalds from hot syrups are usually very serious. So take very good care!
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Here I have approximately 2.5 litres of hot volume fruit vinegar now bottled and ready to cool. Place a porous cloth held in place by an elastic band over the neck of the bottle. CAUTION: Do not place the cap on the bottle before it has fully cooled. As the fruit vinegar cools, the volume will reduce noticeably. If you cap at this stage the bottle could implode as it cools. Possibly causing injury, and definitely causing a sticky mess.
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It is now 24 hours later and my Black Forest fruit vinegar has cooled. Note; as the vinegar has cooled, the level in the 2 litre Cider jug has reduced by about the volume of a wine glass.
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There you go, I just couldn’t resist making myself some hot, almost crispy, golden brown pancakes and drizzling them with some newly made Black Forest fruits vinegar, a dessert or a light snack, which is worthy of an Emperor.
These fruit vinegars are a lot like a good wine, improving with age. So if the opportunity allows, let them mature for a few months or even a year or two.
There are many ways to use fruit vinegar and I will list a few my tried and trusted favourite methods.
Coughs and sore throats: Take 2 teaspoons of neat Blackberry or Raspberry vinegar as you would an expectorant cough mixture, as and when required.
Colds, Flu, and Fevers: Fill a tumbler half full of Blackberry or Raspberry vinegar, top off with boiling water and drink.
As a marinade: Pour about 2-3 mm of Fruit vinegar into a flat bottomed dish and marinade Pork chops, Lamb chops, Chicken and Turkey breasts, Prawns or White fish Fillets; Cod, Coley, Haddock, Sea Bass and Whiting, etc. Turn over after a couple of hours and marinade the other side, then grill or BBQ for a wonderfully fruity, sweet and sour flavour. I can certainly confirm how tasty Reindeer steaks marinated in Arctic Blueberry Vinegar are.
On a roast: Pour over the Sunday Joint before popping it into the oven. Goes extremely well upon Lamb, Pork, Chicken and Turkey, but it is absolutely fabulous on roast Duck, Pheasant, and Rabbit. The resulting gravy is divine.
Brush a little fruit vinegar into the cavity of a Trout, Artic Char, or a Mackerel, or on to a Salmon, Tuna, Swordfish or Marlin Steak or fillet before grilling. Oily and Pelagic fish do not seem to marinade well in fruit vinegar, but it does work extremely well when they are only lightly coated using a brush.
As a Drizzle: Now this is where I will start all of the controversy, drizzle it on to; pancakes (a Shrove Tuesday family tradition), leftover Yorkshire pudding, Ice cream, Quiche, Baked Alaska, Sponge, Cheese cake, on toasted nuts and roasted Chestnuts, or enjoy it warmed over a spirit burner as a dip with a cheese board, the list is endless.
Well, that is how I make fruit Vinegars, and some of the ways that I enjoy the fruits of my labour. I trust that you have enjoyed this article, and will be encouraged to make and use your own fruit Vinegars.
Gareth
Here you go;
Last night's tea, a Pork chop and a belly slice marinading in the Black forest fruit vinegar.
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45 minutes in a gas oven at Mk 5, and served with a dollop of Friday's leftover Cheese & tater Pie.
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