The vinegar-based drinks, including the switcher and the shrub, are now very fashionable and have ancient origins
THE'use of vinegar in the kitchen, and in particular in the preparation and production of beverages, has been for a long time little valued and decidedly undervalued in the kitchen, especially in the West; to the acidity of the vinegar, in fact, generally that of lemon is preferred. Only in recent years this ingredient has been rediscovered, both for its beneficial properties and for the possible combinations with other foods that can balance the flavor and with which to make delicious, refreshing and original drinks. Let's go then to the discovery of this new trend, but also of its ancient origins.
Vinegar beverage fashion, from sekanjabin to shrubs
Among the many types of vinegar, from balsamic to cherries, what is mostly used for drink recipes is theapple vinegar. This vinegar, which is obtained from the fermentation of apples, is in fact particularly suitable, thanks to the sweet aftertaste and the lower acidity. For about two years now, many companies have invested in the trade in acidic and refreshing drinks based on apple vinegar or the recipes of new sophisticated vinegar cocktails. These are beverages with a characteristic sweet and sour taste, with or without alcohol, excellent for cooling off and rehydrating. What has been most successful internationally is the switchel, or water mixed with honey vinegar, sugar, molasses or maple syrup; sweeteners are an excellent energy fuel, water hydrates while vinegar acid stimulates the production of saliva which prolongs the sensation and the revitalizing effect. Adding a pinch of salt to the mix can also provide useful electrolytes to stimulate sweating. Similar to the switchel is the category of vinegar tonics: both are meant to be drinks of their own and can be both smooth and carbonated.
The many types of tonics on the market, often sold in colorful bottles, include variants with added turmeric, ginger, maple syrup, molasses or goji berries, a choice conceived not only to give drinks the right balance of flavors but also to make them energy and healthy "superfoods". The last category of fashionable vinegar drinks is shrub, a drink that takes its name from the Arabic word "sharab", which means drink, as inspired by ancient recipes of oriental infusions. The shrub differs from the switchel and from the tonics above all for the presence of fruit; in fact they are in fact made from vinegar, fruit and sugar, cooked or left to macerate in the fridge for several days. What you get is a sort of very liquid syrup, appreciable on its own or used to make instant alcoholic or non-alcoholic cocktails, for example with the addition of tonic water, sparkling wine or dry sweet sherry.
The vinegar drinks of the past, a look at the past
What we are currently experiencing, in reality, is nothing but a revival, a frequent phenomenon in the world of drinks. The switchel and the tonic, in fact, are very similar to aancient Roman drink called posca based on water and vinegar, much in use among the legionaries of the Roman army for its properties thirst-quenching and disinfectant properties, while the shrub can be considered the modern and revisited version of the Persian sekanjabin, a syrup made by cooking sugar, water and vinegar together. There are actually several oriental syrups made with vinegar, which from Persia and Turkey spread throughout the continent, reaching Italy through the port of Venice. Sekanjabin, one of the most famous and still in vogue, is a refreshing drink prepared with vinegar, mint and sugar, often served with ice, water, addition of mint and cucumber leaves, or as a sauce in which to dip lettuce leaves. A last drink that has recently inspired today's vinegar recipes is theoxymel, whose origin dates back to the 15th century, in the Caribbean. This refreshing drink, one syrup made with vinegar, honey and herbs, was very popular among American settlers in the late seventeenth century and among thirsty peasants intent on gathering hay in the nineteenth century. Precisely for this reason the oxymel was also also called "punch of hay gatherers".
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