Thursday, December 3, 2009

My Favorite Food Things - Day #4 - Condiments

Lamb chops marinated in balsamic vinegar. German potato salad finished off with apple cider vinegar. Frisée salad lightly coated with a fig vinaigrette. Bread dipped in fennel infused vinegar.

Can you find the common thread?

Vinegar. No matter the type, age, or use, vinegar is my favorite condiment. In fact it just might be my favorite food.

I love the acidic-ness that vinegar gives any dish. It is a great way to add complexity and depth to food without making things too complicated or caloric. Of course, too much vinegar can make any mouth pucker, so balance is the key.

Like the pyramids, vinegar dates back thousands of years probably originating in Egypt.

Every ethnic table of today uses vinegar in some way or another, here are just a few examples…

British/Canadian – malt vinegar for fries, “chips”
Japanese – sushi rice
Chinese – red vinegar in soups
Italians – balsamic in pasta sauces
Argentina – red wine vinegar for chimichurri
Iran – vinegar and honey (Assyrian Christmas dish)
American – white wine vinegar in chili

Here are some interesting charts. You can click on them to make them bigger for better viewing.

(Source -: Mintel Custom Solutions Data Presented at 2006 VI Annual Meeting)

1 comment:

  1. I love adding red vinegar when we have Chinese dim sum. I feel like it cuts the greasiness.

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