In the quest for flavor without fat, more cooks are turning to vinegar, but not the throat-catching colorless stuff that Grandma used to pickle the okra. They are using fruit vinegars, which offer intense flavor without the knockout punch of industrial-strength acetic acid.
Regardless of how fruit vinegars are used, the beauty of them is that they provide abundant flavor with no fat. Of the dozens of brands that line store shelves, those made by Consorzio, Kozlowski and the Robert Rothschild Berry Farm are among the fruitiest and lightest in flavor.
Last summer, Consorzio, a division of Napa Valley Kitchens, in Napa, Calif., raised fruit vinegars to a new level when it introduced its Vignette line. Vignettes are barely recognizable as vinegars because they have such a huge amount of fruit in them, far more than other fruit vinegars.
“You can eat them plain,” said Rod Wilson, a buyer for Beverages and More!, a Northern California chain that sells high-end food products and beverages. “Lots of others are going to jump on the bandwagon. That’s where the future will be.”
The raspberry vinegar of Kozlowski Farms in Sonoma County, Calif., is the best-selling item among the family company’s products. With 4.5 percent acetic acid (the sour compound formed during the creation of vinegar), it has less acidity than most vinegars, which can go as high as 9 percent. This makes it ideal for perking up foods.
“Instead of putting mayonnaise on the asparagus, people are now sprinkling on a little raspberry vinegar,” said Carol Kozlowski, the company’s president.
The clear raspberry vinegar accented with plump berries from the Robert Rothschild Berry Farm in Urbana, Ohio, comes in attractive bottles. Laura Miller, the director of public relations for the farm, said customers told her they used the vinegar straight on salads–without any oil–and splashed on sauteed chicken breasts. Sales of Rothschild’s raspberry vinegar increased 27 percent from 1993 to 1994.
Consorzio’s Vignettes came about quite by accident, said Michael Chiarello, the culinary director of Napa Valley Kitchens. Three years ago, he tried to store 500 pounds of ripe mangoes for winter sorbets. He soon realized that mango pulp did not take to freezing, and adding large doses of sugar–to create sorbets–muted the fresh fruit flavor.
Chiarello’s brother Ron, a chemist, suggested increasing the acidity. By adding one part Champagne vinegar to three parts mango puree, Chiarello stabilized the fruit so that it would not spoil or ferment. The result was a vinegar so low in acidity (3 percent) that it had to be refrigerated once opened.
His next problem was how to use his newfangled vinegar. He tried dozens of recipes at Tra Vigne, his restaurant in St. Helena, Calif., with little success. Then he took a boneless, skinless chicken breast, put it in mango vinegar for a few minutes and put it on the grill. “It blew my mind. I couldn’t believe how stupidly simple it was,” he said.
Simple preparations with fruit vinegars seem to work best, whether for deglazing a pan or for sauteeing a paillard of meat (the vinegars are particularly good with lighter meats, such as pork and veal) or in a marinade for grilled chicken or fish.
In vinaigrettes using these fruit vinegars, the normal proportion of 3 or 4 parts oil to 1 part vinegar should be reversed. This kind of dressing works nicely on fruit salads or mixed greens, and just as well when cold seafood is added. Following are other ways to use fruit vinegars:
– Drizzle on vanilla ice cream, or mix into yogurt.
– Add a few drops to a glass of seltzer or sparkling mineral water.
– Toss fruit (especially berries) with some vinegar and a sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper.
They can also be used as a marinade and basting sauce for grilled fruit, such as peach halves and slices of pineapple.
SAUTEED CHICKEN BREASTS WITH RASPBERRY VINEGAR
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Yield: 2 servings
2 chicken breast halves, boned, skinned
Salt, freshly ground pepper to taste
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup raspberry vinegar
1. Put chicken breasts between two sheets of aluminum foil, and pound with a mallet or the side of a cleaver until each piece is about 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Melt butter in a skillet, preferably non-stick, over medium heat. Add chicken breasts, and cook until firm but still juicy, about 5 minutes on each side. Remove to a warm platter.
3. Add shallots, and cook 1 to 2 minutes until soft but not brown. Add wine, and cook until almost all liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Add vinegar, and cook, stirring, just until sauce thickens, about 1 minute. Pour sauce over breasts, and serve.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories….250 Fat……………8 g Cholesterol…..115 mg
Sodium…170 mg Carbohydrates…..3 g Protein………..40 g
PORK TENDERLOIN WITH MANGO VINEGAR-RUM GLAZE
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Marinating time: 30 minutes to 2 hours
Cooking time: 15 minutesYield: 2 to 3 servings
1 pork tenderloin, 12 to 16 ounces
1/2 cup mango vinegar
1/4 cup rum or bourbon
1/4 cup defatted chicken stock
Salt, pepper to taste.
1. Put tenderloin in a glass or other nonreactive dish. Mix vinegar, rum and stock in a small bowl, and pour over pork tenderloin. Marinate 30 minutes at room temperature or refrigerated for up to 2 hours.
2. Heat broiler. Remove pork from marinade. Put marinade in a small saucepan, and put pork in a shallow pan fitted with a rack. Season pork well with salt and pepper.
3. Broil pork, 6 inches from heat source, turning 2 or 3 times to insure even cooking, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven, and let rest 5 minutes, covered with foil.
4. Meanwhile, boil marinade until reduced by half over medium-high heat. Cut pork into 1/2-inch slices on the diagonal, and pour sauce over slices.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories….270 Fat……………8 g Cholesterol…..140 mg
Sodium…115 mg Carbohydrates…..3 g Protein………..45 g
