Pepper vinegar

Overview

Pepper vinegar is a sharp, hot vinegar made by steeping cut pepper pods in vinegar and boiling the liquid down. Randolph's book gives it as a seasoning rather than a dish. It is a short preparation with no fermentation step: the vinegar is heated and reduced, then strained into a bottle.

The pepper named in the recipe is the ripe pod, not black peppercorn. The text compares its flavour with black pepper, which fixes the pods as the source of heat in this vinegar.

Method in the source

The method has four moves. The stems come off a dozen ripe pods, and each pod is cut in two. The pods go into a kettle with three pints of vinegar, which is boiled down to a quart. The liquid is then strained through a sieve.

The reduction is the main step. Boiling three pints down to one quart concentrates the vinegar and the heat of the pods together. The source does not give a time or temperature.

Use in the book

Randolph uses the vinegar in gravy and in the catsups she makes for fish sauce. She says a little gives a flavour greatly superior to black pepper. That is her claim, and this page records it as such.

The book lists pepper vinegar in its contents next to tomato soy and mushroom catsup, so it belongs to the same group of store-cupboard seasonings.

Safety and limits

The source gives no keeping time, no acidity figure and no safety check. Boiling and straining are the only preservation steps it describes. Do not treat the recipe as a tested method for storing a pepper preparation. The page records what the book says.