1 vinegar
1 greek oregano
Directions
Well, it's simple and unmeasured. I decide how much vinegar I want to
steep, and choose a wide-mouthed jar of that size. I fill this jar
with roughly equal amounts of fresh Greek oregano (a very strong, hot
variety...beware as some fresh oregano is insipid), mint (for this, I
like the yerba buena variety ...a coarse, strong spearmint), and
winter savory (stonger flavored than summer savory). I generally try
to bruise the leaves a bit. I pour the vinegar over the herbs, put a
layer of waxed paper and a couple of layers of plastic wrap over the
mouth of the bottle (to help retard the inevitable corrosion of the
metal cap) and then screw on the jar lid. I place the jar either on
a sunny windowsill or on the deck for a few weeks, and then strain
the vinegar through a coffee filter and return it to the original
vinegar bottle (which usually has a more corrosion-resistant lid). I
don't like to leave any herbs in the vinegar, and don't like to add
any for decoration, either, because they tend to add a funky taste
that I don't care for if they sit long enough.
From: mfaison@pen.k12.va.us (Michele L. Faison). Fatfree Digest
[Volume 9 Issue 38] July 29, 1994 Formatted by Sue Smith, S.Smith34,
TXFT40A@Prodigy.com using MMCONV
Servings: 1 servings
Making Greek Balsamic Vinegar Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Miscellaneous
The History of Recipes
Historians have found proof that recipes existed far back into history, at least as far back as ancient Egypt, and maybe further still. Interesting though that is, these, early records were just very simple pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for preparing food.
Interestingly, the oldest recipe discovered so far, according to experts are some ancient tablets in the Sumerian language which recount the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making anyone who tried it feel exhilarated. Later on, in Roman times 25BC a roman called Apicius wrote a number of scripts detailing recipes enjoyed by his fellow Romans. In his scrolls, Apicius recounts how the meals of wealthy Romans were split into hors d`oeuvre, main course and dessert, something we still use today. Aspicius recounts how the ancient chefs made use of many herbs, including many that are still in use today like thyme, rue and asafoetida. Closer to modern times, we find two recipe books which date from the 14th Century - a recipe book titled `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary called `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are somewhat misleading tho`, these are not about the indian food that is familiar to us all today, but rather descriptions of the types of food prepared by the chefs of the rich and powerful of those days. In the fifteenth century, people returning from the crusades brought back a variety of spices and herbs from Arab cuisine, including coriander, basil and rosemary. The introduction of these new culinary ideas prompted an increase in recipe manuscripts, most of which are now in academic collections. During the succeeding few hundred years, the powerful and rich houses competed to serve up the most exotic meals, and because of this the best cooks and their recipes became highly prized. However, it wasn`t until the nineteenth century that fine cookery and recipe books rose to prominence. The Famous Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Merritt Farmer in the USA, dedicated years of their lives to collating, verifying, and recording recipes to allow everyone to enjoy them. By the arrival of the 1900s, cook books were highly popular mostly due to higher levels of literacy, people having more leisure time and disposable income. Like it or not, the introduction of television gave us TV cooks and the recipe books that accompanied them. And that brings us to the present day and the internet revolution, permitting us all to search through thousands of recipes like the ones you can find on the site you are now reading. |
We hope you enjoy this Making Greek Balsamic Vinegar recipe.
