Cassell's dictionary of cookery

Vinegar, Violet (a German recipe). — " Gather wood violets when they are most plentiful — in spring. Put the flowers, without their stems, into bottles, shaking them down till full. Then pour in as much wine vinegar as they will take ; cork, and set them in the sun three or four weeks. Strain off the vinegar after this time. A spoonful or two of the violet vinegar in water, with or without sugar, is, in many cases, a remedy for nervous headache. It is good also for flavouring beverages and sweet dishes." VIN ( 1095 ) VOL Vinegar, Wholesomeness of.— Vinegar in small quantities is a grateful and salutary stimulus to the stomach, correcting the putrescency of animal food, and the flatulency of vegetable. Its use, however, is improper in valetudinary cases, especially for gouty persons. Pickles are merely vegetable receptacles for vinegar, but the vegetable being hardened by the acid renders it somewhat difficult of digestion, and therefore vinegar in the form of pickles is not much to be recommended. We may add on this subject the remarks of Dr. Paris in his work on "Diet." "Vinegar," he says, " in small quantities, is a grateful and wholesome stimulant ; it will often check the chemical fermentation of certain substances in the stomach, and prevent vegetable matter in its raw state from inducing flatulence ; but its use requires caution, and in some morbid states of the system it is obviously improper. Fatty and gelatinous substances frequently appear to be rendered more digestible in the stomaeh by the addition of vinegar, although it is diflicult to offer either a chemical or physiological explanation of the fact. The native vegetable acids may also be occasionally substituted ; the addition of lemon-juice to rich and gelatinous soups .renders them less liable to disagree with the stomach ; and the custom of eating applesauce with pork is undoubtedly indebted for its origin to the same cause." Vinegar, "Wine, French Method of Making. — The following is the French method of making vinegar. The -wine destined for vinegar is mixed in a large tun with a quantity of wine lees, and the whole being transferred into cloth sacks placed within a large iron-bound vat, the liquid matter is forced through the sacks by superincumbent pressure. What passes through is put into large casks set upright, having a small aperture in their top. In these it is exposed to the heat of the sun in summer, or to that of a stove in winter. Fermentation supervenes in a few days. If the heat should rise too high, it is lowered by cool air and the addition of fresh wine. In the skilful regulation of the fermentative temperature chiefly consists the art of making good wine vinegar. In summer the process is generally completed in a fortnight, in winter double the time is requisite. The vinegar is then run off into barrels, which contain several chips of birchwood. In about a fortnight it is found to be clarified, and is then fit for the market. It must be kept in close casks. Vinegars, Flavoured. — Vinegar may