CHAPTER XXV.
VINEGARS.
Vinegar is seldom made at home, and as the best is made from wine only, it is scarcely worth the trouble, for, for every purpose, the best vinegar is the cheapest.
Gooseberry Vinegar.
To every quart of bruised ripe gooseberries, put 3 quarts of spring water, stir well, and steep them eight and forty hours; then strain into a barrel, and to every gallon of liquor, put 2 lbs. white pounded sugar, and a toast soaked in yeast. Put it in the sun in summer, and by the fire in winter, for six months, without stopping the bung hole, but keep it always covered with a plate. White currants, stripped, in the same way.—Or: boil 1 lb. coarse brown sugar in a gallon of water, a quarter of an hour, scumming well; put it in a pan; when nearly cold put in a thick slice of toasted bread spread with yeast: let it work twenty-four hours, put it in a cask or jar, and place that in the sun, or near the fire. You may add some ripe gooseberries, bruised.
Good Common Vinegar.
To every gallon of water, put 2 lbs. coarse sugar, boil and skim. Put it in a pan or tub, and when sufficiently cold add a slice of toast, spread on both sides with fresh yeast. Let it stand a week, then barrel, and set it in the sun or by the fire, for six months.
Cider Vinegar.
To every gallon of cider, put 1 lb. white sugar, shake well, and let it ferment, four months.
Vinegar of Wine Lees.
Boil the lees half an hour, during which, skim well. Pour it into a cask, with a bunch of chervil. Stop the cask close, and in a month it will be ready.
Cayenne Vinegar.
Put into a quart of the best vinegar, 10 oz. cayenne, 1 oz. salt, 1 oz. cloves, 1 oz. garlic broken, and 2 grains cochineal bruised; shake it every day, for a fortnight.
Chili Vinegar.
Put 100 fresh gathered red chilies into a quart of the best white wine vinegar; infuse them, ten days, shaking the bottle every other day. ½ an ounce of really good cayenne will answer the purpose of the chilies.—A spoonful or two in melted butter, for fish sauce. Chili Wine.—The same way as the last, using sherry, or brandy, instead of vinegar. A fine flavouring ingredient.
Eschalot Vinegar or Wine.
Infuse in a pint of vinegar, 1 oz. eschalots, peeled and sliced, a little scraped horse-radish, and 2 tea-spoonsful cayenne: shake the jar or bottle, once a day for three weeks, then strain and bottle the liquor. Wine.—Very good for flavouring made dishes: peel, mince and pound in a mortar, 3 oz. eschalots and steep them in a pint of sherry ten days, pour off the liquor and put in 3 oz. fresh eschalots, and let it stand again ten days, then pour off and bottle it.
Tarragon Vinegar.
Pick the leaves on a dry day, about Midsummer, make them perfectly dry before the fire, then put them into a wide-mouthed bottle or jar, and pour in vinegar to cover them; steep them fourteen days, then strain through a flannel jelly bag, into half pint bottles; cork carefully, and keep in a dry place.
Vinegar for Salads.
Take of chives, savory, tarragon, and eschalots, each 3 oz., of balm and mint tops, a handful each. Dry, pound, and put them into a wide mouthed bottle or jar, with a gallon of the best vinegar, and cork close. Set it in the sun, for a fortnight, strain it, squeeze the herbs; let it stand a day, then strain and bottle it.
Garlic Vinegar.
Peel and bruise 2 oz. garlic, infuse it in a quart of vinegar, three weeks. Strain and bottle it. A few drops to a pint of gravy; a very slight flavour is approved of by some, which by others, is considered highly offensive.
Green Mint Vinegar.
Fill a wide mouthed bottle with the green leaves, cover with vinegar and steep them a week; pour off the vinegar, put in fresh leaves, let it stand another week, then bottle it.
Horse-radish Vinegar.
Prepare this about November. Scrape 3 oz., also 2 oz. eschalots, and 1 drachm of cayenne, pour on them a quart of vinegar, and let it stand a week, then strain, and it is ready.
Camp Vinegar.
Put into a pint of the best vinegar, 1 drachm of cayenne, 3 table-spoonsful soy, 4 table-spoonsful walnut catsup, a small clove of garlic, minced fine, and 4 anchovies chopped. Steep a month, shake it every other day, strain it, pour it into pint or ½ pint bottles.
Cucumber Vinegar.
Pare 8 or 10 large cucumbers, cut in thin slices, and put them into a china bowl, with 2 onions sliced, a few eschalots, a little salt, white pepper, and cayenne. Boil a quart of vinegar, let it cool, then pour it into the bowl; cover close, let it stand three days, and bottle it.
Basil Wine.
About the end of August fill a wide mouthed bottle with fresh leaves of basil, cover with sherry and infuse them ten days; strain and put in fresh leaves, infuse another ten days, then pour off, and bottle it. A table-spoonful to a tureen of mock turtle, just before it is served.
Raspberry Vinegar.
This, besides being a nice sauce for batter and other light puddings, is good with water, as a summer drink, also for colds, sore throat or fever. It will not be good unless made with fresh fruit; and the finer the sugar, the clearer the syrup.—To 1 quart of fruit add 1 pint of vinegar (cold); cover close for twenty-four hours; pour off the liquor, and put to it a quart of fresh fruit, cover close and let it again stand for twenty-four hours; repeat this for the third time. Then boil up the vinegar, with a lb. of lump sugar to each pint, until it becomes a syrup.