Mother of Vinegar

Learn how to start homemade wine vinegar with mother of vinegar for a classic vinaigrette

Reader Contribution by Cynthia Hodges
Published on April 26, 2020
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by Adobestock/DPRM

I’ve been making my own vinegar since 2008, ever since I met up with some food blogging friends at our local farmer’s market and was handed a small plastic bag that contained a blob of something that looked like a piece of pale liver. My friend told me to just add any leftover wine I might have to it and in a couple weeks, I’d have wine vinegar!

It was mother of vinegar, or mère de vinaigre, as it is called in France. Mother of vinegar is a substance composed of a form of cellulose and acetic acid bacteria that develops on fermenting alcoholic liquids. It is similar to a SCOBY, or the Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast used to grow kombucha, but the acidity in vinegar kills off the yeast that is a part of a kombucha SCOBY.

I raced home from the farmer’s market and put “Mom” in a half-gallon canning jar topped with a piece of cheesecloth and then opened a bottle of wine. It felt a little bit odd (but not unheard of) to start drinking at 10:30 AM on a Saturday, but I had to do it for Mom. I poured her some in her crock, and poured myself a glass. Why not? Cheers! Now, whenever I open a bottle, I always make sure to pour Mom a glass, too.

If you don’t have a friend to give you some vinegar mother, you can use any brand of natural apple cider vinegar (such as Braggs) that contains the mother.

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