Choosing a vinegar

Choosing a Vinegar
Find Unique Vinegars

Each kind of vinegar is a unique experience. It would be presumptuous to say that one kind of vinegar only goes with one kind of food. It really depends on your taste. Most people have a tongue and nose and brain and that is all the equipment you need to be able to decide what you like and don't like. But having said that I can offer some suggestions to get you started. I hope that these suggestions will be liberating rather than limiting.

Red wine vinegars, when they are robust make good salad dressings and marinades for red meats because the taste can stand on its own without the addition of other strong flavorings.

White wine vinegars, white rice vinegars, and corn vinegar work well with refrigerated pickles or salads. They also work well with fish and poultry. Try these when you are making vinegar cookies or vinegar cake.

Malt vinegars, cane vinegars, brown rice vinegars are great for dipping fried foods like "Fish-n-Chips" or bite sized pieces of chicken.

Flavored vinegars give an interesting twist to vinaigrettes. Just experiment with them to see if the compliment the spices in your recipe.

Try making small batches of pickles with any unique tasting vinegar with over 5% acidity. You are bound to discover some new culinary territory if you head in this direction.

Use distilled vinegar when you want to decorated the vinegar but don't plan to consume the contents. This will give you a clear easy to see product and since you are not going to eat it, who cares what it taste like. Distilled vinegar is often the best choice for most other applications other than eating. So in addition to being the cheapest vinegar it is actually the most useful, as long as you are not going to eat it.