the older i get, the more opinions i have about vinegars.
Let me just start off by saying that I swear to God this isn’t a recipe post. When I was younger, I don’t believe I ever thought about vinegar, and if I did, the thought was “no”. But now as an adult, I have vinegar in a meal roughly six, if not the whole seven days of the week. While I was making a salad for lunch the other day, I was about to reluctantly add some champagne vinegar, all the while thinking I would’ve been much happier if I had apple cider vinegar instead - and it hit me; I have A LOT of opinions about vinegars. Yes, vinegars, plural. It was striking to me because I don’t know when it happened or how. I didn’t realize I cared that much about it but I suppose I’ve been subconsciously forming these opinions for years, tucking them away into the recesses of my palate and mind until now…
Balsamic Vinegar – Arguably the most famous of vinegars. A real star. She did not come to sing backup hunny. Balsamic is a flavor that demands to be noticed, there is no ignoring her. You never bite into something that has balsamic in it and ask yourself “is that balsamic?” - you know when it’s there. She’s a flavor that announces herself like Jason Derulo. She’s so much of an icon she doesn’t even need vinegar as a surname, Balsamic on its own is fine, like Cher or Madonna or Beyonce. She is a headliner. Think of how many recipes she’s collaborated on – it’s a Balsamic Chicken, a Balsamic Reduction, a Balsamic Glaze. Even when she’s not in the title (rude) she’s making her presence known (we’re looking at you Caprese Salad).
Champagne Vinegar – She’s elegant and elevated but also mildly snobby – like she’ll politely mingle with your sad weekday salad but you know she’d rather be accompanying grapefruits, pomegranates, figs and/or arugula or jet off to some béarnaise sauce or something. She’ll seem out of place in the wrong setting, much like ordering champagne at a bar that has nut bowls or TVs. She’s not trying to be rude, she just has better places to be.
Apple Cider Vinegar – Oh you want to talk about range? ACV does not come to play. Health elixir? Check. Hair cleanser? She does it. Household cleaner? Get to steppin’ Lysol – and those are just some of her side projects. She’s not above your weekday salad and she’ll come thru for BBQ sauce too. ACV is humble, she’s not out for glory, just simply out to help. A pillar within the vinegar community, ACV truly does the most.
Now clearly this isn’t an exhaustive list of vinegars, candidly they’re just the ones currently residing in my kitchen but they’ve been living rent free in my mind and now maybe they can in yours too.