Cooking & eatingThe TV makers of Inspection Service of Value have plunged into the world of white wine vinegar. And… red wine vinegar. The result, which was broadcast yesterday, produced hilarious scenes. “That’s why I never really liked vinegar that much.”
On the back of bottles of wine vinegar from the supermarket is exactly what the ingredients of a bottle of wine vinegar are. Namely: wine vinegar (red or white). huh? But what wine is that vinegar made of? Which grape is in it? And how is the taste of it? The TV program Inspection Service of Value went looking. Yesterday’s broadcast attracted 452,000 viewers.
The experts who spoke had little to say about the vinegar with which half of the Netherlands makes its salad. “You can’t make something good if your base is really crap,” said French vinegar maker Adrien, who tasted the Dutch wares. Wine expert Yvo Pieksman was shocked when he smelled the stuff from the first bottle. “It hits your head” , he told Marijn Frank of the TV program, who added: ,,It is as if you have vomited and have to do it again.’ “You’re right,” said Pieksman. ,,That’s a good one.”
Blend of least good wines
Vinegar seller Judith van Unen could not bake chocolate from the vinegar from the supermarket that she was allowed to taste. She wasn’t even sure it was made of wine. “It’s not like you say delicious.” An employee of a supermarket chain suspected that the base is a ‘blend of the least good wines’, he confessed over the phone. ,,It’s a gamble.”
It is already strange that red wine vinegar in the bottles is clear, the French vinegar maker thought. Then he is sure to come from a factory, he reported. He himself makes vinegar in wooden barrels on his French farm. Sophie van Enk tasted vinegar in his ‘vinaigrerie’, which not only tastes sour, but also has something sweet in it, something fruity. Ersin Kiris also tasted other types of ‘real’ vinegar, which taste very different from the vinegar from his own kitchen cupboard. ,,Totally different. A world opens up for me.”
Portuguese factory
Ersin Kiris traveled to Portugal, because there was the only factory where they allowed the TV program on the shop floor. It was true that the base is a mixture of different wines. What those are is a secret. The fact remains that you cannot make good vinegar from really bad wine. That always results in a nasty, almost nail polish remover-like smell, vinegar expert Manfred Meeuwig knows.
“It’s not good as a wine,” admitted Thiago, the Portuguese vinegar maker whose last name is not being revealed. “But we do make good vinegar out of it.” To make the raw product edible/drinkable, the manufacturer adds water. That makes vinegar very cheap. Does the French vinegar maker do that too, add water? Adrian laughed. ,,No that is not necessary.”
life mystery
Educational, according to some followers of Inspection Service of Value on Facebook. ‘That’s why I never really liked vinegar that much’, writes Martijn Dijkman in response. He resolves to ‘score some good vinegar’. You can also make your own, reports Dirk Anna van Vuuren-Kloosterman, who has his own fruit trees and shrubs.
Hans van der Meer is grateful to the TV program. “Another one of my life mysteries solved. So drove past Banyuls 35 years ago and saw huge wine barrels outside, without caps on them. What? Now I see Sophie in La France visiting such a vinegar farmer and yes!! Those barrels!! Thank you very much again.’
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