The Olive Oil Hunter News #104

Spotlight on Calamansi Vinegar

A taste sensation unlike any other

Just what is a calamansi? It’s a citrus fruit often described as a cross between a kumquat and a mandarin orange, though its taste makes me think of exotic yuzu enhanced with a blend of traditional citrus—orange, lemon, and lime. Which of these fruits a calamansi’s skin color most resembles is an indication of ripeness: Green is underripe, yellow is ripe, and orange is overripe. Also called a calamondin or Philippine lime (where it’s now primarily grown), the calamansi is native to many countries in Southeast and East Asia, such as Indonesia and (southern) China, and it’s a staple of many cuisines in these regions.

If you’ve never even heard of calamansi the fruit, much less tasted calamansi the vinegar, get ready to experience an explosion of flavor in your mouth! It’s fresh, dynamic, and versatile, and made with the same passion that guides master vinegar vintners. The recipe for the calamansi vinegar in my collection blends fruit pulp with brandy vinegar and pure cane sugar, which both preserve and further enhance the fruit’s intense and unique flavor while imparting just the right note of sweetness. The fruit is sourced through a partner program in the Philippines that ensures a fair price for small farmers and also supports various school projects for children. The cane sugar is also Fair Trade.

Food Pairings

Enjoying calamansi vinegar

Use it in sweet or savory recipes and in Asian and other ethnic dishes. Drizzle it over seafood dishes, like ceviche and tuna tataki; crudo; vegetable and grain salads; greens (raw or cooked); and roasted vegetables. It’s excellent in a marinade for fish and as a finish for chicken piccata and other recipes with a lemon sauce. Swap it for lemon juice in aioli and homemade mayo and for lime juice in guacamole and salsas. It enhances citrus-based desserts, from a granita to a curd-filled tart, and alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks—try a cooler of crushed ice, raspberry purée, and sparkling water or wine. Add it to your favorite caramel recipe, and mix it with honey before drizzling over pound cake or ginger ice cream.

Healthy Kitchen Nugget

What’s old is new again

With the current popularity of vinegar, it’s easy to forget that it has been around for 10,000 years, not only as a condiment but also as a means of pickling and preserving other foods. Another way it was used back then, as it is now, is as a home remedy—recognized by none other than Hippocrates, the “Father of Medicine.” Over the centuries, vinegar has served as a digestif (often in the form of a drink diluted with water) and was thought to protect liver health, heal wounds, and combat sore throats, fever, and even hair loss. It took the great microbiologist Louis Pasteur to fully unravel the mystery of acetic fermentation and identify key microbes so that vinegar could be crafted safely as well as deliciously! Recently, vinegar has become a popular ingredient in craft cocktails—what a fun way to tap into its potential healthful properties.