Malt vinegar

Sometimes it's a lovely thing to take an evening off from the kitchen and go to a pub with friends. When we lived in Portland, Oregon, there was a McMinamen's pub -- a local "chain" of brew pubs -- that serves Oregon Country Beef burgers and good fresh beer -- not to mention awesomely huge baskets of good fries. On every table is a bottle of malt vinegar.

The smell of malt vinegar always reminds me of a wonderful French Canadian fish-and-chips place in Montpelier, Vermont during my childhood. Not only was the fish and chips good, but they must have gotten malt vinegar by the cask. It was in a carafe on every table. When they cleared, it was used to wipe the table down. The place never smelled overwhelmingly of grease like many fish places do. It smelled like malt vinegar and salt air. Very inviting.

Malt vinegar is a good neutral vinegar. It's not quite as mild as rice vinegar in character, but not so aggressive as cider vinegar -- which is far from the extremes such as balsamic, which dominate any dish.

Consider malt vinegar on vegetables, not just fried things. Use it on salads with a light oil and a little sugar and salt, and chopped thai basil. Instead of using more costly wine vinegars, or merely sour white vinegar, consider the fawn-colored malt vinegar as a base for herb or spice infusions. Tarragon malt vinegar, I'm sure, would be transcendent!