Vinaigre du Citron

The secret to Catherine's salad dressing is Vinaigre du Citron and a spice mixture, called Mélange Aromatique. She adds these to some olive oil and Voilà! In France, for 9.90 €, you can purchase quarter of a liter bottle of Vinaigre du Citron from the producers, Huilerie Beaujolaise. In the USA, you can order on-line, for $34.00 from Cube Market Place.

Catherine uses olive oil, a small amount of the Vinaigre du Citron and some packaged spice mixture: "Mélange Aromatique pour salade et tartines". Ingrédients: Tomate, amidon de mais, épices (ail, origan, basilic, celeri, oigons, poivre, sel de mer, dextrose). Ingredients: tomato powder, corn starch, spices (garlic, oregano, basil, celery, pepper, sea salt, sugar). Maddie and I will try to clone this mixture. I hope also to clone the Vinaigre du Citron. I found a number of recipes on the net and will try the ones below next week. I will update in a month how it comes out.

Lemon Vinegar

Ingredients

1 pint (16 oz) white vinegar

1 lemon

2 bay leaves

Directions

1. Pour the vinegar into a stainless steel pan.
2. Wash the lemons and pare the rind from them with a potato peeler.
3. Add the peel to the pan with the bay leaves and boil for 5 minutes.
4. Cover and leave to go cold.
5. Bottle, including the peel and the bay.
6. Leave for 4 weeks. The vinegar can then either be strained and bottled or used as it is, depending on the strength you require.

Source: "Lemon Vinegar" by Gavin "Miller" Duncan

http://www.food.com/recipe/lemon-vinegar-30845 accessed 7/24/2011

Lemon Vinegar from Lemon Juice and Water

For a different approach to making Lemon Vinegar, try California private chef and caterer, Gabi Moskowitz's method of squeezing half a lemon through a strainer into a small bottle, adding a little water, letting mixture sit in a cool dark place for five days, then adding more lemon juice and letting it sit for another two weeks. See Gabi's video http://www.ehow.co.uk/video_4871742_make-vinegar.html.

Other Links about Lemon Vinegar

Lemon Vinegar from Time Travel Kitchen blog http://timetravelkitchen.blogspot.com/2010/07/lemon-vinegar.html

Note: before attempting to make flavored vinegars, read sanitation recommendations at http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/how-vinegar-works2.htm.