Respiratory focus vinegar

I have been tinkering with this vinegar for a little while now. In formulating this recipe, I had the delicate structures of the lungs and the blood vessels and capillaries that serve them very much in mind.

Blueberries are rich in anthocyanins, shown to protect the health of the delicate endothelium lining our cardiovascular system. Turmeric’s curcuminoids and Ginger’s volatile oils and pungent principles have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial and circulatory-stimulating properties. Thyme’s volatile oils and flavonoids are associated with antimicrobial and expectorant activity. Horseradish’s glucosinolates also have antimicrobial, circulatory-stimulating and expectorant properties. Garlic contains both prebiotic polysaccharides and antimicrobial organosulfur compounds. These organosulfur compounds are excreted through the lungs. Garlic has been shown to have a range of beneficial effects on cardiovascular health.

All of these constituents are to varying degrees, extracted by the vinegar. We use this vinegar in cooking, in vinaigrette; it is weaved into our diet in a number of ways. But we also eat all of these herbs/fruit as they come too. We do not guzzle this vinegar daily (if consumed too frequently, neat vinegar can damage your tooth enamel). We use it medicinally, as we do the four thieves vinegar and our vital tonic, but we also enjoy it with food. When we consume this vinegar, we are consuming all those plant constituents and the live microbes contained in the apple cider vinegar, which itself, has been consumed by humans for health since 5000BC.

Try it for yourself? You can, of course, just buy your apple cider vinegar and skip straight to phase 2 of the recipe if you wish.

Phase One – apple scrap vinegar

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Ingredients

• 4 apples

• 1 litre of water
  Ideally filtered

• 4 tbsp of sugar
  Some prefer to use the equivalent of local raw honey

• A small amount of raw apple cider vinegar

Equipment

• 1.5 litre Kilner jar
  Washed in hot water or that has been through the dishwasher

• A large jug or mixing bowl

• A clean cloth and elastic band

• A mixing spoon

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Method

1. Simply put the water into the mixing bowl or jug and stir in the sugar (or honey if you have chosen to use that) until dissolved.

2. Chop up the apples into smallish chunks (I leave skins on and throw everything in – core and pips too) and put into the kilner jar – it should be ¾ full.

3. Pour over the sugar/honey water.

4. Close the lid to exclude oxygen and leave for around 2 weeks. I always label my ferments – saying what it is and when it was made. I also write on the date I next need to do something with it, so that I don’t forget.

5. After two weeks or so, strain the fluid from the apple and you will likely have an alcoholic cider. Put this cider into a clean kilner.

6. Add a small slosh of a previous batch of apple cider vinegar or some shop-bought raw, unpasteurised apple cider vinegar. This is not crucial, but it helps the process along by introducing the acetobacter bacteria you desire. I sometimes use kombucha vinegar or water kefir vinegar to do this if I have some of that about instead.

7. Cover, this time just with a cloth and elastic band, allowing air to the mix for this phase (acetobacter work in the presence of oxygen). And make a note on your label to check again in around 4-8 weeks.

8. I stop the ferment process when I am happy with its taste – I like it tangy and bright – which can take 12 weeks from apple removal in my house. If you are really lucky, a beautiful vinegar scoby will have formed and you can transfer this onto your next batch of vinegar.

9. This method produces apple scrap vinegar as a base for your respiratory focus vinegar. Apple scrap vinegar is slightly different to apple cider vinegar but for small batches, apple scrap vinegar works well!

Phase Two – respiratory focus vinegar

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Ingredients

• 750ml of the delicious apple scrap vinegar you just made (or the apple cider vinegar you just bought)

• 340g Blueberries squished or sliced and ideally not from Morocco due to food miles (unless you live in Morocco)

• 60g fresh Thyme chopped finely, woody stalks discarded

• Garlic
  1 garlic bulb, peeled and crushed

• 100g fresh Horseradish grated

• 100g fresh Ginger grated

• 100g fresh Turmeric grated (wear gloves if you don’t want yellow fingers!)

Equipment

• 1 litre kilner jar

• Sieve

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Method

1. Add the ingredients to the clean kilner jar. Press down firmly to expel as much air as possible. Cover with the apple scrap vinegar (or kombucha vinegar or other vinegar you have made or bought unpasteurised vinegar).

2. Shut the lid and leave at room temperature for a month or so. I put it in my fermenting cupboard out of the light. Don’t forget to label it and date it, adding the date on which you next need to do something with it. I also make a record of the ingredients, either on the label, or better still, in a ferment notebook that you can look back on the next time you want to make it.

3. Ideally, you would give it a shake daily, but I often forget this. Just do it when you remember.

4. When the month is up, strain off the liquid using a fine-mesh sieve. I also use a small press to press all the herbs so that I extract as much of the juices as humanly possible from the herbs. Then bottle your respiratory focus vinegar in an airtight bottle, label it and I store it in the fridge door and consume it in all manner of ways.

5. I have not given you specific measurements of each herb. Ideally, you would use approximately equal amounts of each and ensure that your vinegar is thick with submerged herbs by the end of the process. You will get to know how much this is by eye