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Garlic Vinegar
Take three ounces of the cloves of garlic, remove the skin and bruise them slightly in a mortar. Put them into an earthen jar, with a teaspoonful of salt, half a dozen cloves, and half an ounce of whole ginger. Pour over them a quart of the best vinegar, cover closely, and in ten days or a fortnight strain off for use. Two or three drops will prove a valuable addition to sauces and salads. The flavour may be increased or diminished by leaving the garlic a longer or shorter time in the vinegar, or by altering the proportion of garlic. Before straining off for use taste two or three drops, and see if the flavour is such as will be liked.
A cold-infused flavouring vinegar that needs no cooking, only a clean jar and patience. Two details in the wording cause most of the trouble: the "cloves" are two different things, and the quart is an imperial one.
- Cloves, twice overThe "half a dozen cloves" are the spice, not more garlic. The garlic is measured by weight at the start and the clove buds are a separate seasoning.
- Weights and volumesThree ounces of peeled garlic is about 85 g, roughly two heads or 18 to 20 cloves. Half an ounce of ginger is about 14 g; "whole ginger" in period usage most likely means dried root broken into pieces rather than fresh, though the recipe does not say. An imperial quart is 40 fl oz, about 1.14 litres; a US quart of 32 fl oz will give a noticeably stronger vinegar unless you scale the garlic down by a fifth.
- The vinegar itself"The best vinegar" in a Victorian larder would generally have been a clear, strong malt or white wine vinegar. Use one labelled at 5 per cent acidity or higher; the acid is what keeps the infusion safe, so do not dilute it or substitute a low-acid or homemade vinegar of unknown strength.
- VesselAn earthen jar is simply a non-reactive container. A glass jar with a plastic-lined or glass lid works; avoid bare metal lids, which corrode and taint the vinegar.
- Bruise, do not crushA light bruising in the mortar cracks the cloves and releases flavour slowly. Mincing or pressing the garlic gives a faster, harsher, cloudier result that is harder to strain.
- Timing and tastingTen days to a fortnight at cool room temperature, out of direct light, with a shake every few days. The instruction to taste before straining is the real method here: garlic strength varies enormously between heads and seasons.
- Straining and keepingStrain through muslin or a coffee filter until clear, since floating debris shortens its life. Bottled and capped, it keeps many months in a cool cupboard; refrigeration keeps the flavour brighter.
- Yield and useAbout a litre of finished vinegar, which is a great deal at two or three drops. Half quantities are more practical for a modern household. Use it in vinaigrettes, mayonnaise, deglazing and any sauce where you want garlic without texture.
Flavoured vinegars were a standing feature of the Victorian store cupboard, alongside tarragon, chilli, shallot and elder vinegars, and cookery books of the period tended to treat them as everyday seasonings rather than as pickles. The care taken here to make the garlic almost invisible, measured in drops and adjustable by taste, reflects the guarded English attitude to garlic in the nineteenth century: it was widely thought coarse and Continental, and cookery writers of the period often recommended rubbing a cut clove around a bowl or using an infusion instead of the vegetable itself. Vinegar was also the household's most reliable extractor and preservative before refrigeration, so infusing it was a way of holding a strong seasonal flavour in a stable form for months.