I morphed from being an avid beetroot hater to a real fan all thanks to Nigel Slater’s method of making beetroot carpaccio (post to come) – a sort of light-touch curing method as opposed to the heavy-handed approach of the nuns who schooled me.

I have been so taken by this method that I began experimenting with it. I started by using raspberry vinegar, as I thought the sweetness would enhance the flavour of the beetroot. And then I thought that rhubarb vinegar might do the same, but in a more subtle way.

I was right. And there are many other ways that you can use rhubarb vinegar.

Uses for rhubarb vinegar:

• To make beetroot carpaccio (post to come)
• In vinaigrettes used for fish salads of one kind or another:
  • In a salad niçoise
  • In a vitello tonnato
  • In a salmon salad
• Or in other salads – a smoked chicken salad for example
• To moisten smoked trout or smoked mackerel
• To moisten cooked chicken
• To deglaze a frying pan
• A few drops in a glass of cold, carbonated water on a hot day
• It makes a good and unusual present

Storing rhubarb vinegar

Keep in a cool, dark place and use within about six months.

Recipe for making rhubarb vinegar

Makes about four cups

Ingredients

• 400g/14 oz rhubarb
• 900 ml/3¾ cups cider vinegar, or sherry vinegar, or white balsamic condiment
• 1 vanilla pod

Method

1. Trim and cut the rhubarb into 2cm/1” lengths.
2. Put into a non-reactive saucepan (ideally an enamel casserole or ‘Dutch oven’ – a Le Creusset or a Staub) with the vinegar, and boil for a couple of minutes. With a wooden spoon bruise the rhubarb against the side of the saucepan. Take off the heat and leave to cool.
3. Pour the mixture into a sterilised jug*, cover with clingfilm, and leave for a week in a cool, dark place.
4. Strain the mixture through a muslin, or a coffee filter, into a sterilised bottle*.
5. Drop in a vanilla pod.

*Follow this link for various easy methods of sterilising glass jugs and jars.