Vinegar

Appears in

Published 1982

About

We think of vinegar as a very practical natural product. Basically it is fermented fruit juice that has become acidic, though there’s a bit of poetry involved as well.

The Chinese made vinegar from rice wine over 3,000 years ago, while the Romans refreshed themselves with a mixture of vinegar and water flavored with mint leaves.

The same soldiers of Caesar’s army who filled the hills of Dijon, France, with mustard seeds also helped name vinegar—quite by accident. The conquered French peasants called the Roman wine that had fermented vinaigre, or sour wine. It was in the Middle Ages that vinegar, seasoned with spices and herbs, first made its appearance in French cuisine.