No-cook Raspberry Vinegar

Vinegar After 24 Hours

Adapted from Sissymae at Allrecipes.com

Raspberries are my favorite fruit. Often when I pop one into my mouth, I immediately go back in time to a summer morning long ago in my grandmother’s back yard. Gram is gathering berries for breakfast and I am holding a bowl for her. Every now and then I’ll put a berry into my mouth. The taste and texture are exquisite, like nothing I’d ever imagined or tasted before.

Thinking that I might get the same visceral flashback from raspberry vinegar when the berries themselves are out of season, I adapted this recipe from Sissymae at Allrecipes.com. It’s the simplest recipe I’ve seen, just raspberries and vinegar, and no cooking. Normally I’d wait the two weeks it takes to age before posting, but raspberry season might be gone by then, so I’m posting the recipe now. The vinegar looks like it’s going to be excellent.

You’ll need glass bottles to make this. I didn’t have any on hand, but have asked friends to save their wine bottles for me. In the meantime, the simplest way is to buy a bottle of vinegar, decant some vinegar, fill bottle with raspberries, then fill to the top with decanted vinegar. You will have about 1/3 cup vinegar left over for other purposes.

2 Ingredients and 5 Minutes Later

Raspberry Vinegar

12 oz bottle of white wine vinegar

¾ - 1 cup raspberries

Decant about ¾ c. vinegar from bottle into a cup with pouring spout. Add raspberries to bottle one at a time. Use only firm, ripe berries; discard (eat!) crushed and soft berries. Pour as much vinegar as will fit back into the bottle and cap.

Store for two weeks in cool dark place before using.