Vegan Food & Living - October 2017

VEGAN FOOD & LIVING OCTOBER 67

HERB VINEGARS

Herb vinegars look so beautiful and

are simple to make. Put your chosen

herb into an attractive bottle, fi ll with

good-quality white wine vinegar or cider

vinegar and leave in a sunny place for two

weeks, then strain and put the vinegar

back into the bottle with a fresh sprig of

the herb.

Most herb experts make vinegars as

I do, but a few believe in crushing the

herbs in a pestle and mortar, boiling a

little of the vinegar and pounding the

herbs again in this hot vinegar. It is then

cooled and mixed with the rest of the

vinegar and stored for two weeks. After

straining the herb vinegar, the clear

liquid can be stored in a clean jar for at

least two years.

Tarragon vinegar is the classic choice,

but in the winter, when my tarragon

is still underground, I make a chervil

vinegar that provides the same aniseed

fl avour and has subtle, feathery leaves,

which look good in the bottle.

Another good-looker is chive vinegar

made when the herb is coming into

fl ower. A few stalks with fl ower buds can

be tied together in the wine vinegar. Also

try rose petal, dill, fennel, lovage, mint,

oregano, sage, savory, rosemary, thyme

or nasturtium vinegars.

Salad vinegar

I make salad burnet vinegar in the winter,

when this attractive, cucumber-tasting

herb is thriving in the herb garden. This

has been popular since Victorian days

and I often make it for my herb cookery

school, as its leaves are exceptionally

pretty and it has a mild cucumber taste

that is perfect for making a cucumber

salad dressing. Pack the leaves into a litre

bottle of good-quality white wine vinegar.

Leave for 2 weeks, strain and put into a

fresh jar with two sprigs of burnet.

Rose petal vinegar

Make a special vinegar by adding the

petals of six roses, one dried chilli and the

zest of one lemon to 500ml (17fl oz) of

white wine vinegar. It is ready

to use after leaving by a window

for fi v e days.

Rose geranium vinegar

I make a delightful vinegar with rose-

scented geranium leaves mixed with

raspberries and wine vinegar. Roughly

crush six rose-scented geranium leaves

and 400g (14oz) raspberries in a food

processor. Pour over 250ml (9fl oz) white

wine vinegar and leave in the fridge,

stirring occasionally, for fi v e days, then

put the mixture in a jelly bag and drip

into a bowl overnight. Put the strained

liquid in a saucepan, add 175g (6oz) sugar

and heat slowly until it has dissolved.

Bring to the boil for 10 minutes. Cool,

removing all the scum. Put the cold

vinegar into bottles and use within a year.

HERB OILS AND VINEGARS

The extract on pages 66-67

is taken from Herbs by Judith

Hann, photography by Tamin

Jones, published by Nourish

Books. (RRP £20.) This book

contains non-vegan recipes.

VFL17.Herbs.indd 67 07/09/2017 11:12