Pro Pantry #1- Banyuls Vinegar

  

The Professional Pantry (First in a New Series)

In restaurants, he who dies with the biggest pantry wins! {Note: I used to do food cost accounting for Nate, and I assure you, he is not just saying this.  -JS} I admit, I'm a whore for badass ingredients, and once I get a taste, I can't get enough. I know this may not be the best approach for a chef trying to rein in spending (gah, so true -JS}, or the home cook trying to keep a clean and ordered pantry, but I've always subscribed to Alain Ducasse's 60/40 rule: great cooking is 60% product, 40% technique. If your sights are set on the highest level, you need to be buying at the highest level. Cooking is buying!

I like to think I've gotten a little more flexible now that I’m older, and certainly now that I’m cooking at home, these last couple of years. But it's still difficult for me. There are just some ingredients I need to have at the ready. This series is a look into mine and Jesse's personal pantries. Rest assured, mine is cleaner and less cluttered. Probably don't look directly into Jesse's.

Featured Ingredient: Banyuls Vinegar

Banyuls vinegar is one of the least common/known vinegars in American kitchens today, but it shouldn't be. Vinegar comes in many types, and fills many roles. Sometimes it is just there to brighten something up, and provide a little sparkle (white and red wine vinegar, rice vinegar). Sometimes, you want to deliver a sweet/sour agrodolce note (real balsamico, Melfor honey vinegar). Sometimes, you just need to acidulate water for poaching eggs (distilled vinegar). However, sometimes you want to instill a deeply nuanced, almost nutty complexity. Sherry vinegar is what most Americans reach for in this role, but this is also where Banyuls vinegar lives, and it's got it all over sherry vinegar.

From vineyards surrounding the seaside town of Banyuls-sur-mer, Banyuls is one of France's most unique sweet wines. Unlike most French sweets, it's primarily made from red grapes, primarily Grenache, but also Carignan. (Other grapes are permissible as well, but that's getting deep into the wine nerd weeds.) Like Port, it's fortified, meaning they add spirits to the mix while it's fermenting, to kill the yeast before the sugar is all processed, hence the sweetness. Then, this particular wine is allowed to slightly oxidize, kinda like Madeira, which gives it its characteristic nuttiness. So naturally, from great, interesting wine comes great, interesting vinegar.

Banyuls vinegar is typically 6% acidity, which puts it about on par with balsamic, more acidic than rice vinegar, but less than distilled. The rosy-hued vinegar is smoother and more mellow than other vinegars, yet with a sweet and nutty complexity that gives it added interest.  The vinegar is aged for 1 year in large oak barrels, then its transferred to smaller oak barrels (60L). These smaller barrels are stored outside for 4 years. It's a relatively uncommon practice, but the  exposure to the elements accelerates the natural (without sulfites) ageing process.  En plein air, au naturale. Younger batches are given a head-start to fermentation with older batches, reminiscent of sherry's solera process.  After the barrels, additional ageing takes place indoors, where it's then filtered, and bottled.

Banyuls is definitely worth seeking out and adding to your pantry. Used in place of commercial vinegar, it can transform your cooking. Banyuls is far less harsh than common industrial vinegar, where the wine is converted into vinegar in a mere 15 days.  It's more expensive than it too, but it's nowhere near as pricy as real balsamico, and a little bit goes a long way.

And here's a tip: it's so mellow, you can make it into a gelee that you can almost eat straight. You want togo super-light, like 7 sheets of gelatine per quart, and it will set into a wobbly, rose-gold gel. This is a great choice to add a little snap to a chicken liver mousse or a slice of foie gras au torchon, and it only

takes two seconds (because you probably already spent all day on the mousse).

Bonus Thought: I read at a young age that every great dish contains fat, acid, and texture. (I can't, for the life of me, remember who said it. I think it was Charlie Trotter. And the show Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat has made that phrase almost impossible to Google. Anyone know the attribution, hit me in the comments.) Most chefs know this, but I think non-professionals are beginning to learn how to season food, in part because of the aforementioned show. My generation learned it in the French Laundry Cookbook, which you will probably get tired of hearing Jesse and I reference, and should probably just get a copy and read it. Do it.

For those of you who need a refresher, the basic rule of thumb is:

Salt - enhances flavor & texture

Fat - fixes & carries flavor

Acid - lifts & balances flavor

Any dish that's good and balanced will have these three elements in some amount. Even a PB&J has malic acid in the grape juice, plus citric acid added as a flavor enhancer. When you're seasoning, don't be afraid to reach for a bottle of vinegar (or a lime, or a lemon) as a tool of fine-tuning. Without it, your food will taste flat. You'll be surprised how much dimension you can give something really simple with a little acidity.

-NW