Which vinegar for salad

There is no single vinegar for all salads: a tomato salad requires something different than a potato salad, and leafy greens served with fish need something different than lamb's lettuce with figs and feta. Which vinegar to use for what, how to identify them, and how to perfect your dressing.

Flasche Paradeiser Essig von Erich Stekovics

The question sounds like one about a single bottle, but the answer is a selection: There is no such thing as one vinegar for every salad. A tomato salad calls for something different than a potato salad; a green leaf with fried fish requires something else entirely compared to lamb's lettuce with figs and feta. However, what can definitely be said is: which vinegar does what, how to recognize this on the label, and how to master the dressing before the leaves end up swimming in it.

Vinegar is acidity with provenance. What distinguishes one from another in the bowl are three things: how much acidity it contributes, how much sweetness, and what aroma from wine, must, or fruit accompanies it. Once you have these three factors in mind, the choice is no longer a matter of faith, but a matter of the plate.

Which vinegar is best for salads?

The one that suits the salad in question, and for that, it’s worth taking a look at what vinegar actually is. Fermented vinegar is created in two steps: yeasts ferment the sugar from wine, must, or fruit into alcohol, then acetic acid bacteria convert the alcohol into acetic acid using oxygen. The Austrian Food Codex calls this a double fermentation and categorizes vinegar according to its raw material: wine vinegar from wine, fruit wine vinegar from fruit wine, and vegetable vinegar from fermented vegetable juice. The final amount of acid in the bottle is stated as a percentage on the label, as required by the Vinegar Ordinance: vinegar must contain at least 5 grams of acid per 100 milliliters, and wine vinegar at least 6. This single number is the first touchstone, as it tells you how much oil the vinegar can handle.

Wine vinegar is the base note of salad cuisine. White wine vinegar tastes mild and finely acidic with a subtle wine note and belongs with light sauces, delicate leaf salads, and fish; red wine vinegar is stronger and more tart, providing accents in vinaigrettes for meat, in dark sauces, with red cabbage, and in wild herb salads. What a barrel can do with it is demonstrated by Il Borgo del Balsamico in Botteghe di Albinea near Reggio Emilia, where sisters Cristina and Silvia Crotti oversee around 400 oak barrels. Their Il Tinello White Wine Vinegar is made from Italian white grapes through natural vinegar fermentation, straw-yellow in the glass, robust without becoming aggressive, and the estate recommends it for salads and for marinating meat and fish.

Martin-Pouret in Orléans has been working even more slowly since 1797 and is now the last house of a guild that once counted up to 400 producers. Using the Orléans method, the wine ferments and matures in oak barrels; where others produce their vinegar in 48 hours, it rests here for an average of 13 months in the barrel, some for up to 20 years. The Rosé Wine Vinegar made from rosé wine from the Mediterranean brings a fresh, perfumed acidity and is intended for vegetables, fish, and seafood. The Organic Red Wine Vinegar ferments for three weeks in oak barrels, matures for a year in the cellar, and carries red fruit aromas, made for salads, marinades, and deglazing red meat.

Balsamico is not a type of vinegar but a family, and here the fine print is worth checking. Since 2009, Aceto Balsamico di Modena PGI has been a protected geographical indication: it consists of grape must, partially fermented or concentrated, plus at least 20 percent by volume, at least 10 percent wine vinegar, and a portion of at least ten-year-old vinegar. It matures for at least 60 days in wooden barrels, has at least 6 percent acidity, may contain up to 2 percent caramel, and is only produced in the provinces of Modena and Reggio Emilia; the blue-and-yellow seal with the letters PGI stands for this. Sweet and sour, full-bodied, slightly syrupy: this is the vinegar for Caprese, carpaccio, and grilled vegetables. In Modena, it is made by Giusti, in the city's registry since 1605 and now in its 17th generation. Their 3 Medaglie d'Oro consists of cooked grape must and wine vinegar with 6 percent acidity, matures in barriques, and is enriched with aged balsamic vinegar from the house's old barrels: dense, fruity, sweet, with plum compote, red fruits, honey, and vanilla. Caramel is not on their list of ingredients, and that is exactly where you should look first for every balsamic.

The white balsamic is called Condimento Bianco at Giusti, and there are no fixed rules for a condimento: it combines white wine vinegar with concentrated grape must; the must is boiled down at low temperatures to keep it light, and it tastes less sour than its dark relative. Because there are no regulations, the list of ingredients is what decides, and for the Condimento Bianco di Modena, it lists white wine vinegar and concentrated grape must, and nothing else. It matures in French oak barrels, balanced in sweetness and acidity, with yellow fruits and dried citrus, and the house pairs it with vinaigrettes, vegetables, salads, fish, and seafood. A dark balsamic stains what it touches; the condimento lets fennel, asparagus, and a light leaf look exactly as they are.

Fruit vinegar is of two kinds. Either the fruit itself is fermented, like in fruit vinegar made from raspberries, blackberries, or pears, or the fruit is added to a finished vinegar; food regulations allow vinegars additives such as fruit pulp, fruit juices, honey, and sugar. The fruit is then listed on the label with a percentage. In the Raspberry Fruit Balsamic from Lang Weinessig in the Southern Palatinate, raspberry pulp makes up 53 percent of the bottle, followed by wine vinegar, then sugar and 4 percent concentrated raspberry juice; the Mango Fruit Balsamic contains 51 percent mango before sugar and wine vinegar. Both contain so much fruit that you should shake the bottle before use, and both should be stored in a cool place; the sweetness here comes from the fruit, not from the stove. The Japanese Yuzu Vinegar from Belberry in Kortrijk is constructed quite differently: 60 percent vinegar, 24 percent juice of the Japanese citrus fruit, and the house uses it over salads, carpaccio, and cold dishes with olive oil.

And then there is vinegar that comes from the vegetable garden. Erich Stekovics in Frauenkirchen in Burgenland only makes it in the best harvest years, when the sun has made the tomatoes particularly sweet: the fully ripe fruits are mashed and fermented into tomato wine, then acetic acid bacteria are added, kept just under thirty degrees with plenty of oxygen, and the wine becomes vinegar, containing almost all the varieties the farm grows. The Tomato Vinegar has 5 percent acidity, and the house recommends it with goat cheese, leaf salad, and especially for marinating potato and tomato salads. A fruit vinegar whose sweetness does not come from sugar, but from a good summer.

Finally, Vincotto is not a vinegar at all, but cooked must. At Calogiuri in Lizzanello in Salento, Negroamaro and Malvasia Nera grapes dry first on the vine and then on wooden racks; their must is boiled down over 24 hours to one-fifth of its volume and matures for over four years in oak barrels with the "Vincotto mother," without sugar or additives. The recipe dates back to Leonardo Calogiuri and the year 1825, and six generations have kept it in the family since. For the Vincotto Fig, wine vinegar and figs are added, turning the syrup into an agrodolce that the house serves with grilled meat and fish, cheese, and even ice cream. In salad, it is the counterpart to everything salty: feta, goat cheese, bacon.

What kind of vinegar for salad dressing?

For salad dressing, the ratio counts for more than the variety, and there is a basic recipe for this. The Federal Center for Nutrition suggests for a large salad 2 tablespoons of white wine or herb vinegar, 1 teaspoon of fine mustard, a quarter teaspoon of salt, pepper, and 6 tablespoons of oil, meaning 1 part vinegar to 3 parts oil. More important than the number is the order: First, whisk the vinegar with mustard, salt, and pepper until the mustard and salt have dissolved, then gradually whisk in the oil. That is why the salt goes into the vinegar first and not last over the leaves, and why the mustard is more than just a seasoning: it holds the vinegar and oil together.

Sweet vinegars require different measurements. A fruit balsamic brings sugar from the fruit, an Aceto Balsamico di Modena sweetness from the must: here you start with less oil, taste, and add more as needed. The touchstone is the leaf. Pull a lettuce leaf through the sauce and eat it. If tension is missing, it is usually salt or acid, not oil; if it is too sharp, a spoonful of condimento or half a teaspoon of honey rounds it out, not more oil.

The label helps in the shop. For a wine vinegar, the acidity in percent indicates how robust it is; 6 is the lower limit. For an Aceto Balsamico di Modena, the bottle carries the blue-and-yellow PGI seal, and the ingredient list reveals if caramel has been added; a condimento has no regulations, so read whether it contains only white wine vinegar and grape must. For a fruit balsamic, the fruit is listed with its percentage.

Vinegar is almost indefinitely shelf-stable because hardly anything grows in its acidity; after opening, store it in a cool, dark place; a balsamic should also be kept closed and away from anything with a strong odor. If white-grey streaks or a gelatinous mass form in a bottle, this is a vinegar mother: active acetic acid bacteria, natural and harmless.

Which vinegar is best suited for salads?

The table is sorted by what the vinegar does in the salad; all bottles come from our assortment.

For what	What	At our shop
Tomato salad, Caprese, leaf salad with goat cheese	Fruit vinegar from fermented tomatoes, 5 percent acidity	Erich Stekovics, Tomato Vinegar
Potato salad, light vinaigrette, marinades for fish	White wine vinegar from Italian grapes	Il Borgo del Balsamico, Il Tinello White Wine Vinegar
Leaf salad with fish and seafood, vegetables	Rosé wine vinegar made by the Orléans method	Martin-Pouret, Rosé Wine Vinegar
Robust leaf salads, red cabbage, marinades, gravy	Red wine vinegar, fermented for three weeks in oak, matured for one year	Martin-Pouret, Organic Red Wine Vinegar
Salad with chicken, fennel, asparagus, everything that should stay light	Condimento made from white wine vinegar and grape must	Giuseppe Giusti, Condimento Bianco di Modena
Colorful summer salads, Caprese, grilled vegetables	Aceto Balsamico di Modena PGI, dense and sweet	Giuseppe Giusti, 3 Medaglie d'Oro
Lamb's lettuce with figs and feta, winter salads with cheese	Vincotto made from cooked must with figs and wine vinegar	Gianni Calogiuri, Vincotto Fig
Lamb's lettuce with goat cheese and walnuts	Fruit balsamic with 53 percent raspberry pulp	Lang Weinessig, Raspberry Fruit Balsamic
Avocado, salmon, Asian salads with shrimp	Fruit balsamic with 51 percent mango	Lang Weinessig, Mango Fruit Balsamic
Bread salad with pineapple and tomatoes, raw fish	Fruit vinegar with 24 percent yuzu juice	Belberry, Japanese Yuzu Vinegar

Kerstin Uhlenbusch answers for herself how this looks at her own stove:

The question of which vinegar I use for potato salad and tomato salad is easy to answer: I love tomato salad with the Tomato Vinegar from Erich Stekovics; it wonderfully enhances the sunny aromas of the tomatoes. For potato salad, I like to reach for the Il Tinello White Wine Vinegar with its good sweetness-acidity balance. For leaf salad, it depends on the composition, whether it stays green or whether many vegetables, burrata, sheep or goat cheese are added. How is the salad integrated into the meal? A side salad should simply also suit the main dish.

Vinegar is as versatile as a spice. There is no one vinegar for everything and forever. I like Rosé Vinegar with fish, White Balsamic with chicken, Aceto Balsamico di Modena for summer colorful salads, fruit vinegars e.g. the Fig Vincotto with lamb's lettuce, figs, and feta. Fortunately, vinegar lasts practically indefinitely even after being opened, so you can safely have a few open bottles in your pantry.

Of course, vinegar goes well with salads, but dark balsamic or red wine vinegar like that from Martin Pouret is also suitable for refining gravies. I have a bread-salad recipe with pineapple and tomatoes that is seasoned with Yuzu Vinegar. Avocado-salmon tartare gets a dash of Mango balsamic vinegar from Lang Weinessig, or raspberry pairs with goat cheese and walnuts. I always whisk my hollandaise with the White Balsamic from Giusti because it is so refined.

And if there is only one bottle in the cupboard? Then a white wine vinegar is the right one, because it goes with most salads and gets along with almost every oil. Lukewarm sliced potatoes, a dash of white wine vinegar, salt, oil, and chives: that is a dinner, and the second vinegar can wait until the next summer brings tomatoes.