On the left is the pineapple vinegar I began last month by steeping pineapple skins in brown sugar.
On the right is the banana vinegar, made by letting overripe bananas rot and seep.
Both recipes came from Mexican cooking maven Diana Kennedy, both have been decanted and tasted.
Pineapple vinegar. This smells incredible, bright and tangy, like some bionic pineapple just exploded. (Not sure that simile works, but hyperbole is called for.) You open the jar of vinegar and the whole room is perfumed with one of the loveliest scents ever generated in my kitchen. The vinegar is also gorgeous, a cloudy gold nectar. The flavor is sharp, vinegary, very pleasant, if not complex. I would rate this a moderate success.
Banana vinegar. The aroma is so mild I can't really describe it. As you can see, the vinegar is inky, opaque, not all that appealing. I was reluctant to taste this; I shouldn't have been. It is delicious. This is a thicker, more syrupy vinegar than the pineapple; it also tastes more substantial, sweet and rich, distinctly sour but full of honey and caramel flavors, and, of course, banana. It's like balsamic, but maybe even better.
No one could be more shocked than I that this experiment actually worked. Thank-you, Diana Kennedy. Both vinegars need to sit for a while more, but given my exceedingly low expectations, I am exceedingly happy with the results.
Whoa, amazing! Did you have to fish out floating islands of mold?
ReplyDeleteI say again: you're very brave. The banana does look rather inky and unappealing; glad it turned out not only edible but tasty. I too am curious about mold, maggots, etc.
ReplyDeleteThere were no maggots, thank God, and there was (almost) no mold. After the bananas had collapsed and oozed, they did start to mold a bit, at which point I threw them away. but the black fluid they'd emitted was mold-free. The pineapple vinegar developed a filmy "mother" on top, but that's what you want.
ReplyDeleteBoth sound really good. Yesterday I prepared the cajeta de celaya from Kennedy's book: total success; no comparison with the commercial dulce de cajeta you find around; moreover, it is cheaper.
ReplyDeleteAlso made the pineapple and banana cajeta; equally good especially eaten with cheese as Kennedy suggests.
Oz
Oz -- you made the dish where you slow-cook the banana and pineapple into a paste? I read that recipe and it's one I really wanted to try. Now I really have to.
ReplyDeleteI had people over last night and made them all try the banana vinegar just to be sure I wasn't hallucinating how good it was. I wasn't. I feel like I didn't spend long enough on this Mexican project bc while Kennedy's recipes are sometimes outlandish they almost all work beautifully. I'm not sure I gave her a fair chance, so distracted was I by the easy and seductive recipes in Bayless.
Yes, that is the one, the slow cooked banana and pineapple paste. It is fun to make and the results are great. It is very good by itself but even better with the cheese. Will report my progress with the banana vinegar.
ReplyDeleteOz