Vinegar

[Gene L]

I see rations from AWI up to the Civil War where vinegar is issued I suppose when possible. Is this medicinal, or is it for making rations taste better?

 

[Black Hand]

It can be used to make Switchel (Drink) and to boil meat so it will keep for a few days.

I found this (won't vouch for its accuracy): http://www.authentic-campaigner.co...compilation-on-Federal-Army-Issue-by-Tom-Klas
http://versatilevinegar.org/vinegar-lore/
http://www.unctv.org/content/civilwar/cooking

 

[coloradoclyde]

It's a condiment....Vinegar brings life to many bland foods.....Most of the great flavor you get from ketchup comes from the vinegar.....if you don't believe me...try making ketchup without it.. :barf:

Vinegar is great on salads
pizza
bread
soup...etc......

 

[Gene L]

Good information. Thanks.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Acidity bring the party to your mouth.....ever squeeze a lemon over fish?.....how about fish n chips with malt vinegar?...it's the acid...
Worcestershire sauce is vinegar based...
Pickles, kraut, olive, all get their flavor from either acetic or lactic acid.....

 

[coloradoclyde]

Vinegar is also good at killing salmonella, E-coli and other gram negative bacteria...
So dousing your questionable meat with vinegar just might prevent you from spending a lot of time in the latrine....

 

[Gene L]

Every Southern family-style restaurant has a bottle of pickles in vinegar on each table. Greens need a bit of the vinegar which is slightly flavored with the peppers to make them taste better.

I guess rations were a lot less tasty back in WAI and Civil War days.

I wonder what the vinegar allowance was in England and France back then.

 

[Black Hand]

I guess rations were a lot less tasty back in WAI and Civil War days.

Beef and pork, butchered under questionable conditions and stored without refrigeration. Uncured/unsalted meat may have been a little past its prime and biscuits (with/without mold and/or weevils). Salted pork that might be rancid.

Lots of extra aspects to the "tasty" of the day...

 

[coloradoclyde]

I wonder what the vinegar allowance was in England and France back then.

The French ate much better....

1809
Napoleon Bonaparte had offered to pay 12,000 francs (the equivalent of today’s $250,000) to the person who could come up with the best way to pickle and preserve food for his troops. In 1809, French chef and confectioner Nicolas Appert, won the competition with a key insight: if he placed food in a bottle and removed all the air from the bottle before sealing it, he could boil the bottle and preserve its contents. Using glass containers sealed with cork and wax, Appert was able to preserve not only vegetables and fruits but jellies, syrups, soups and dairy products.

 

[Black Hand]

The French ate much better....

Let's be honest - the French (Italians & Spanish too) still eat better than the USA and UK...

 

[Black Hand]

I carry a bottle of cider vinegar in my kitchen supplies.

 

[Tallswife]

I wonder what the vinegar allowance was in England and France back then.

The French ate much better....

1809
Napoleon Bonaparte had offered to pay 12,000 francs (the equivalent of today’s $250,000) to the person who could come up with the best way to pickle and preserve food for his troops. In 1809, French chef and confectioner Nicolas Appert, won the competition with a key insight: if he placed food in a bottle and removed all the air from the bottle before sealing it, he could boil the bottle and preserve its contents. Using glass containers sealed with cork and wax, Appert was able to preserve not only vegetables and fruits but jellies, syrups, soups and dairy products.

And thus the precursor to home canning! (And commercial canning)

 

[sidelock]

Don't know what you consider "better", but I can't stand Italian and don't like French food. Give me good southern US of America cooking any day. You are invited to come to my wife's table and see what I am talking about. It will make your tongue curl.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Give me good southern US of America cooking any day.

Can you describe what that is?.....

 

[satx78247]

Me, TOO.

While I like Italian, Korean, Mexican, Spanish, Thai, German & Vietnamese, I do NOT generally like the usual "froggie" food.

yours, satx

 

[Gene L]

Give me good southern US of America cooking any day.

Can you describe what that is?.....

Fried chicken, black-eyed peas, collards, chicken slicks, porkchops (fried), ribs, grits, biscuits, low country boil, fried field corn, fried okra (do you see a pattern here?) cornbread, hominy, and it goes on.

I like most foods, actually, without loving any ethnic food especially. I don't particularly like Italian food; I mean it's good enough, but I've probably have never had really authentic Italian. I might love it if it was something other than the stuff they serve in Italian restaurants around here. I like Mexican food OK, but could do without it. I like Asian foods a lot, probably my favorite ethic foods. Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, all those. Noodles and raw fish!

 

[coloradoclyde]

Oh! whatever will you eat when you discover that your favorite foods have the thumbprints of French influence?.... :haha:

 

[Black Hand]

I was raised on Italian food (family is from the Island) and personally I can't stand the EYE-talian food(?) served in the USA (A few exceptions). The food served in the USA resembles real Italian food the way finger-painting resembles the Mona Lisa. This profusion chain of EYE-talian food places is embarrassing.

Of all the cooking styles in the USA, the food of the south is probably most influenced by French (it having been a French colony), Spanish and African cooking. What I've eaten of Southern cooking, I've liked. I'm a big fan of pork in all its forms and greens.

However, we need to define where in France? In Provence, the food seems to be more Mediterranean, with many fruits and vegetables. Other parts vary, so I'm certain there are many dishes a person would like and a few they would dislike.

I am a big fan of all styles of Oriental cooking, with Thai and Japanese being at the top. Mexican is OK, but I haven't eaten in enough good Mexican places to find excellent food. Even the UK, long known for its gray, tasteless, boiled-to-death dishes is having a food revival, and seems to be on its way to culinary enlightenment. While the USA does have some excellent regional recipes, it is know best for its culture of junk/fast food, and I find this disturbing. Even more disturbing is the food behavior of Americans while traveling abroad - they search out American-style fast food and rarely venture out to eat the truly excellent food native to a particular place.

In summary, I've eaten much food from many cuisines, and there is no style of food that I hate, but there are dishes/ingredients that I dislike. Junk food, on the whole, I avoid, unless on a trip where time is of the essence, then I do have a few things I will eat (and often regret later).

 

[zimmerstutzen]

I also read that each soldier was to be issued a pint of vinegar per day. As it turns out it served many purposes. A oz in a canteen of questionable water, killed a lot of bacteria protozoa etc. . The vinegar helped replace some minerals, it also quenched thirst slightly better than water. It serves as an appetite suppressant. Added some vital nutrients to their diet to keep them a bit healthier.

Heck folks today, still go by a diet that includes drinking some weak vinegar water.

 

[Black Hand]

A oz in a canteen of questionable water, killed a lot of bacteria protozoa etc.

I wouldn't bet the farm on this assumption...