April 14, 2012 Vinegar and tears

One thing I have learned from this short time so far in Germany, Americans miss out on a lot of really great stuff. One case in point is Weinessiggut Doktorenhof (www.doktorenhof.de then get Google to translate). If for no other reason go to there site, get Google to translate and then look at the recipes...seriously something missing in the translation. That, however, is not why I like weinessiggut doktorenhof. The reason I do is because they have the most delicious vinegar I have ever tasted in my life.


Now I know, some would be curling up their nose and crinkling their lip at the thought of vinegar, but this is so good that people drink it just to drink it. Nothing at all like white vinegar or apple cider vinegar. The doktorenhof vinegar is made the old fashioned way (no automation there) from fine wines (go figure, it is located in a major wine area.


OK, OK I know it, is just vinegar, so what could be so great about it. Well, for starters it is delicious. My favorite is Angel Kiss the Night, which is a sweet vinegar that has a mixture of cherry, apricot, fig, and vanilla flavors. It is delicious on fruit, salads, chicken...and ice cream. That is just one flavor of their many. I know, you are thinking she is lost it and is now completely off her rocker...but if that were true then obviously I have taken some with me as I know of at least four others in the States who appear to agree with me about these vinegars.  And there are a great number of Germans (Europeans actually) that also buy this vinegar like there was no tomorrow. Please, go to their site and see all the wonderful flavors. Tasted one yesterday that had lavender, rosemary...well anyway, you get the point..lots of unique flavors in these beautifully created vinegars. 


They actually have a tour on which they tell you about how they make their vinegar and some history about vinegars. Did you know vinegar has been used for over 10,000 years? Did you know that Cleopatra not only won a bet (the famous dinner party bet in which Cleopatra bet Anthony that she could put on the most expensive dinner yet, and to ensure her win she dropped her pearl earring into vinegar and drank the dissolved mixture...the pearl was said to be worth the value of three countries) thanks to the help of vinegar, but also required that her forces drink some vinegar each day to keep them healthy.


Supposedly, vinegar got its name in France when a cask of wine got a crack in it and became exposed to air. When the vintners tasted it, they uttered "vyn egre" which literally means "sour wine." Vinegar is made when aerobic bacteria come in contact with the alcohol in liquid while exposed to oxygen. This will turn the alcohol into "acetic acid." This acid is found in all vinegars. At doktorenhof there is a special room where the wine is in huge barrels and is exposed to the bacteria to create the vinegar.


Although the tour was in German (and no, I still do not speak much German) I could understand a lot of what was said. It was helpful that our tour guide would do his speech in German (for all the Germans on the tour) but then was so nice as to give us a brief English version too. A lot of what was covered I already knew, but it was still interesting. By the way when you take this tour you have to put on these cloaks that made me feel like we were either monks or in some weird vinegar cult...either way it was kind of a fun touch.


So on with the lets learn about vinegar thing: did you know that vinegar is a natural food and contains no harmful chemicals or preservatives as vinegar is a preservative itself? Vinegar has many beneficial uses, that include being used medicinally, in cooking, and for cleaning. It can be used as a marinate for meat and kill unwanted bacteria, it can help keep insects out of your home, it can help kill weeks, and it sanitizes and deodorizes better than most other products that are sold. Medicinally, many people use vinegar to help cure stomach aches, relieve itching due to bug bites, sooth sunburn pain, stop the pain of a jellyfish sting, relieve mild arthritis pain, help dissolve warts, as a cough suppressant, etc.  Some say that if you drink at least a teaspoon of vinegar a day it will keep your blood pressure in check. 


Now that I have done my teacher thing and given you a little information (in case you ever go on Jeopardy) more about the tour. The people that own Weinessiggut Doktorenhof have been making the vinegars for 150+ years (obviously the ones there now are not the original people that started doing this...hehehe). They have fans from all walks of life and their fans use the vinegar for many things and in many ways. Some use it for cooking, some as an added flavor for things they are eating (like salad, fruits, etc) and some just drink the stuff straight. Along with the vinegar doktorenhof does sell other products, to include hand blown glasses that are especially made for sipping the vinegar.


I think this is definitely a must see (and taste) place in Germany. I wish they were a little closer, but luckily the drive is beautiful and it only takes about an hour. So, that all being said, here are a few pictures from the tour. Kind of difficult to get pictures when it is all lit by candlelight and they prefer not to have too many flash pictures taken. 


Oh by the way, once you put on your cloak you go into the cellar area to take the tour. One bit of information that I almost forgot to say, to make their vinegar takes a long time. First they make the wine (a few years time, at least) then they introduce the bacteria and wait for the vinegar to be just right (another few years at least)...not a quick process, but the results are amazing. You get to find this out first hand because once you ascend from the cellar and are disrobed (boy that could be taken wrong) then you go out into the courtyard and go down into another basement area that is a beautiful little tasting room. The tour guide tells you a bit about some of the different flavors and what they are used for and you get to taste quite a few varieties, along with some wonderful breads and some of the doktorenhof chocolates. (of course the vinegar is all served in some of the extremely long stemmed hand blown glasses to make the experience perfect).


A few things in the courtyard:

Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture in the actual store, nor did I get a picture with the cloak on...guess I will have to take the tour again some time (perhaps when I know more german or when it is in English). These were taken in the cellar:

In the tour tasting room:

These are some of the vinegar sipping glasses

Our tour guide. He was wonderfully entertaining  and had such a nice voice that he even made German sound good (not my favorite language...it just is not a smooth language)

The pouring of the fig vinegar

look at the beautiful color of this...definitely not your run of the mill vinegar....this is the fig vinegar.

the angel kiss the night vinegar

I think this was the Casanova vinegar.

All in all, well worth the time and price of the tour. If you can find Doktorenhof vinegar in the states, try it (or you could always contact your friendly american in germany to make arrangements for a shipment,,,they will ship directly from doktorenhof but you have to place a huge order for it to be worth the customs etc for them). I have successfully gotten a few people hooked on the vinegar, so needless to say, I do go to the post office from time to time to mail some. 


Oh, one more thing on the vinegar, now is the time that the white (or albino) asparagus is available...it is quite delicious and has a unique taste from regular asparagus...it is really good with some of the casanova vinegar on it...yummy as a warm salad option (picture and asparagus suggestion are thanks to Georg Wiedemann from doktorenhof):

Here are just a couple of pictures that I stopped to take on the way home. The first are just some vineyard pictures then is a train tunnel...such a pretty one though. the others are a castle ruin in Frankenstein. No not Frankenstein's castle, this is in the village Frankenstein, and Frankenstein's castle is near Darmstadt...these locations are about an hour apart.

As for the tears part, well it was Jack's 3rd birthday. I hate that I miss my grand babies birthdays being here. I called before I left to go do volunteer time at the CASF so that I would be able to tell him happy birthday. He was excited talking about blowing out candles and eating cake and getting presents. Everything was great until he knew that I would not be at Papa's house, and then he started crying...and kept crying. If you ever want your heart ripped out, be on the phone, thousands of miles away from someone you love and have them start crying...it kills you. I have done this now with Alex and with Jack, and it is a terrible feeling. Yes, it is good to know they love you so much but it breaks your heart to know that they are crying because of you not being there. Needless to say, I of course was then crying. 


So there you have it, the vinegar and the tears...and of course the tears have started again at typing this and thinking of my sweet grand babies and how I miss them so much. But soon, it will be summer and I will see them...perhaps with some surprises!