I was wanting some raspberry vinegar to make a marinade here at Struan Farm, and simply couldn't find any in my usual gourmet food haunts in the wider surrounds of Piopio.
Years and years ago I made my own, I know it can be done. So I decided to make it again, and found Nigel Slater's "classic raspberry vinegar recipe." (I must be channeling Nigel this week...) His preface about fruit vinegars being fashionable in the 1980's made me laugh, since that must have been when I last made it. And the next comment about our having learned to use them with more discretion also made me laugh. I hope his confidence in me isn't misplaced, since I suspect the marinade recipe I'm wanting to make could be circa 1980's!
In any event I'll proceed discreetly as required.
Raspberries (from Piopio Berry Orchard, of course) are placed in a stainless steel or glass bowl and crushed lightly, then covered with white wine vinegar and set aside for two days. It should be stirred every so often.
The fruit is then drained through muslin/cheesecloth for a few hours. Don't you just love my improvised draining set up, using clothes pins? I'm draining it right into the pan I'll use for the next step.
The resulting liquid is put into a stainless steel saucepan with sugar and brought to a boil, then simmered for ten minutes.
After cooling it can be used and/or poured into a sterilised bottle and stored in a cool, dark place. I will say that this was quite a bit of effort and expense to go to for not a lot of raspberry vinegar. The cost might be lower using frozen berries, but our local market only had frozen fruit from Serbia, not NZ, so I decided not to use that. Now that I think about it, Piopio Berry Orchard does sell frozen berries as well, so there you go. At least I've got the vital ingredient for my marinade now.
Just remember if you try to make this: be discreet. No big hair or shoulder pads, this isn't the 1980's!
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