Gooseberry Vinegar
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mash
Bruise the gooseberries in a bowl or tub.
Pour the boiled and cooled water over the gooseberries.
Let them sit for 3 days, stirring frequently.
Strain the mixture, add the sugar, and stir until dissolved.
Ferment and age
Pour the mixture into a clean, dry cask.
Bung loosely until fermentation ceases, then tighten the bung.
Store the cask in a dry, moderately warm place for 9 months.
After 9 months, rack the vinegar into clean, dry bottles.
Store for an additional 3 to 4 months before using.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Gooseberries
- Provide the fruit flavour and the natural sugars and acids that ferment into vinegar.
- Sugar
- Feeds the fermentation that turns the liquid into vinegar, and adds sweetness before it is consumed.
- Water
- Dilutes the fruit and carries the sugars so yeast and bacteria can ferment the mixture.
The step that matters
Bung loosely until fermentation ceases. Fermentation produces carbon dioxide that can build pressure in the cask. A loose bung lets gas escape while air still stays out, so the cask is not sealed too early and the liquid is not left open to spoilage.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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