Vitality Magazine May 2017

Call me a sourpuss, if you will, but
I love vinegar and can’t imagine a
day going by without calling upon
one type or another for cooking, curing,
or cleaning purposes.
Vinegar gets its name from the
Latin vinum acetum, or “wine turned
sour”, and is one of the oldest condiments
in the world. It is believed to
have been discovered by accident –
wine was exposed to air and voila,
“sour wine”. Too tart to drink, too
precious to throw away, creative
experimentation proved that soured
wine has fascinating properties – one
of them being the ‘power to pickle’!
Ancient Egyptians and Chinese
reputedly used vinegar thousands of
years before Christ, and its use is
mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments. Traces of
vinegar were discovered in an Egyptian vessel dating back
10,000 years. Babylonians used it for cleaning and preserving
food, and Roman legionnaires drank vinegar before battle
– believing it gave them strength and courage. After the
fighting was over, vinegar was applied as a disinfectant to
cleanse wounds inflicted by swords.
Apple Cider Vinegar
During my childhood, when the need arose for healing tonics
and homegrown remedies, my grandmother taught me to
reach for a jug of pure apple cider vinegar. If you don’t
make your own apple cider vinegar, it’s easy to find at your
local health food store – the kind
made from local, fermented, organically
grown apples is best.
Cider vinegar is described in
Grandma’s old doctoring journals as
being a useful tonic for many ails
including cold, ‘flu, sore throat, and
stuffy head. It is also good for flushing
impurities from the kidneys,
bladder, and liver.
Studies have indicated that apple
cider vinegar helps relieve arthritic
pain when taken orally or applied as a
The Wonderful World of Vinegar
History, folklore, and medicinal uses of the world’s most
popular fermented flavourings – from A to V
~ BY LINDA GABRIS
Apple cider vinegar is a folklore tonic with
a history of alleviating everything from
arthritis to constipation to insomnia
hot compress. And wrapping a twisted
ankle or sprain with a cloth that’s
been soaked in cider vinegar can
reduce swelling.
Apple cider vinegar is also a useful
remedy for insomnia, constipation,
nervousness, muscle cramps,
and more. Grandma’s scribblers testify
that it can be used to expel intestinal
worms when given internally, or
to get rid of head lice by dissolving
nests with a cider vinegar hair rinse.
(Editor’s note: According to naturopathic
doctors Paul and Patricia
Bragg, authors of Apple Cider
Vinegar: Miracle Health System,
potassium-rich cider vinegar is a
time-tested natural remedy used by
their family for treating arthritis,
chronic fatigue, and constipation. See resource list at end.)
Balsamic, Wine, and Mirin Vinegars
Over the years, I have become a connoisseur of more exotic
types of vinegar for dressing up meals. In my view, any
cook can go from being good to gourmet simply by keeping
an aromatic bottle or two of specialty vinegars close at
hand. Unlike my rural grandmother, I have easy access to
markets that offer vinegars from around the world. One of
my favourite is balsamic vinegar from Italy.
Traditional balsamic – is made from white Trebbiano
grapes and aged (up to 100 years) in a succession of barrels
made out of different woods, each instilling a particular
flavour and aroma to the vinegar,
thus its magical taste and pricier tag.
Malt vinegar – with its English
roots, is fermented out of barley and
grain mash and flavoured from casks
of beech and birch. When seeking
the best quality, look for an organic
label.
Champagne and wine vinegars –
vary in quality according to the type
of wines from which they’re made.
The best wine vinegars are made the
slow, old-fashioned way in oak bar-
16 VITALITY MAGAZINE – MAY 2017 www.vitalitymagazine.com