[Sca-cooks] Follow-up on vinegar

[patrick.levesque at elf.mcgill.ca]

Sorry it took so long - Hope you're not all gone to Gulf War!

This is a summary of what is said on vinegar in 'Les Délices de la Campagne',
pp.73-83  (1655 - I'm sorry this is somewhat OOP, but that's what I'm
researching nowadays)

According to Bonnefons, vinegar is made in new casks, using a very strong
vinegar as a started, to which wine, from which any scum will have been
removed, is gradually added (over the course of many weeks), always keeping the
vinegar in a warm place.

Your daily vinegar is kept in a barrel in a warm place as well. You add leftover
wine (after warming it somewhat) in small quantities so as not to soften the
vinegar. Leave the barrel open.

Different kinds of vinegar mentioned:
-Rose Vinegar
-Aromatic Vinegar (with cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg or other spices)
-White wine vinegar with dried vine flowers
-vinegar with garlic or shallots
-More aromatic vinegars (with long pepper, ginger or galingale infused during
the initial preparation of the vinegar)
-vinegar added with blackberry or raspberry juice (hmmm... guess what my next
project will be???)

As far as I can tell, these vinegar are all prepared from white wine. This may
either reflect common use, or a bias of the author, for even on the section
devoted to wines, white wine is covered in details, yet red wine are glossed
over pretty quickly. I am not enough an expert on period wine consumption so I
cannot comment any further.

Petru