Vinegar

This is some raspberry vinegar I got from the vinegar shop in Inverness. Yes Inverness has a vinegar shop - I was just as surprised as anybody.

Vinegar is rather a useful substance and can be used for all sorts of things such as cleaning windows, (half and half with water) or rinsing your hair (when infused with Rosemary). My own experiment with rosemary vinegar hair rinse came to an end quite quickly when, despite the assurances from the herb book that I would not smell like a chip shop, I smelled like a chip shop.

The same book (which I can't find now) also had a section for making a vinegar mother. It involved setting up a crock and pouring dregs of wine into it and generally looking after it. This experiment never started as there is no way I am coming home from work every day and stirring a vinegar mother and keeping it warm. The mother is a scary looking, slimey mass of bacteria which cause the wine to ferment and turn into vinegar. Despite its appearance it is harmless and when it falls to the bottom of your crock the vinegar is ready.