Vinegar for the faint of tongue
October 26, 2019 11:18 AM   Subscribe

While in Germany and the Czech Republic, I noticed that the vinegars used in salad dressings and preserved foods like sauerkraut did not set my tongue off like their counterparts in the United States. What could be different about these vinegars to make them milder?

Usually (in the US) my tongue hits the "ow" threshold with salad dressings and other acidic things about halfway through the meal. It just stings! (fruits like pineapple are also a problem) I think this happens with balsamic vinegar most often, but other vinegars are also too strong for my tongue. In Germany, particularly, I noticed the vinegar felt more mild and didn't make my tongue hurt. I can't believe they're just using less or watering it down. Since I do love the taste of vinegar, are there any less sting-y ones I can buy, or is it a matter of cutting it with other ingredients?
posted by oxisos to Food & Drink (9 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Sugar, maybe?
posted by kylej at 11:37 AM on October 26, 2019


It’s sugar and salt. Source: Czech mother and grandmother.
posted by JJZByBffqU at 11:58 AM on October 26, 2019 [3 favorites]


German here, I think it depends on what restaurants you were eating in. When my father (mid 70s) makes salad dressing he adds water to it, as did my grandmother. His salads are the kind of thing you may find in a traditional Bavarian restaurants. In fact I recall one of my classmates in our home economics class asking about why we were adding water to vinaigrette when they didn’t in her family. She was told that the French don’t add water but in Bavaria you do. The teacher would have been slightly older than my parents. On preview, my father also adds sugar and salt.
posted by koahiatamadl at 12:06 PM on October 26, 2019 [2 favorites]


NYTimes recently wrote about a super fancy restaurant with an amazing $17 salad and their secret was putting water in the dressing to dilute the vinegar.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 12:50 PM on October 26, 2019 [5 favorites]


You might also try Rice Vinegar. It's relatively mild compared to other types.
posted by zengargoyle at 3:02 PM on October 26, 2019


Sugar, salt and water.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 3:39 PM on October 26, 2019


I thought of that article too, nouvelle-personne. It was Samin Nosrat writing about "The Best Green Salad in the World."
posted by mumkin at 6:07 PM on October 26, 2019 [2 favorites]


Just adding to the pile of it being some sugar salt and water according to my grandparents. Think of it like when you add a splash of water to whiskey - it opens up the flavor and lets you enjoy it more. I also enjoy sherry and champagne vinegar in my dressings for this reason.

My grandma's salad dressing was one big salad tossing spoon of red wine vinegar, two of olive oil, half of water, two pinches of salt, one pinch of sugar. Mix it up in the salad bowl, then add the salad ingredients and toss to coat, crack pepper on top.
posted by Mizu at 6:16 PM on October 26, 2019 [5 favorites]


Here in Hungary we can buy white wine vinegar that is 5% acid, 10% or 20% (which doubles as a cleaning fluid.) Its a lot cheaper than the small bottles of apple cider or red wine vinegar. We cut it with water for the classic wilted cucumber salad of Central Europe - and add salt and sugar (as do many German potato salad recipes) When I am in the States or Britain I stock up on malt vinegar, which is very mild and I use it like ketchup on virtually any vegetable or salad.
posted by zaelic at 11:29 PM on October 27, 2019


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